No Way Out
by livelifetothefullest4e
Summary: 16-year-old Larisa struggles to keep herself together while her PTSD and depression begins to catch up to her, and she begins to discover more about her family that she'd rather not know...Rated for death, swearing, violence, misery, and darkness.
1. Depression

**HERE IS THE SEQUEL TO "WHO TO TRUST, WHO TO HATE"!**

**Before you read past this, check to make sure you have an ample amount of tissues by your side.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~The Prophecy~*~*~**

_**In May, 1980, the Last will be born.  
Different than the rest, but many traits the same as the One Before.  
Skilled she will be, like the One Before.  
She will survive that attack when she is five,  
but at a horrible price ten years later,  
yet bringing her special abilities, not at all like the One Before.**_

_**Once the discovery is made at the age of sixteen,  
on the seventeenth day of the sixth month,  
destruction shall begin to fall upon the Older Three.**_

_**The first to fall will be killed by one who does not know,  
by one who is in a fit of rage.**_

_**The second to fall will be by one who wishes to save one they love,  
by one who seeks revenge.**_

_**The third and last to fall will be by one who seeks to avenge.

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**_

**~*~*~The Letter~*~*~**

_**Dear Larisa,**_

_**Yes, I know, you are probably shocked that I, the most feared Death Eater,  
have written to you. You asked down in the Department of Mysteries about why  
your father and I want you dead. Well, he wants you dead because of the prophecy.  
Me, I have a different reason. Let me tell you a story about two girls who were my  
sisters and my best friends...**_

_**Helena Alice Irli and Sienna Violet Irli were my younger and older sisters.**_

_**Helena was younger than me by three years, and Sienna was older than me by  
three years. Helena and I were very close, and I loved her dearly. Sienna and I  
were also close, but Helena was always my favorite sister. She looked just like you,  
except for the eyes. She had normal eyes, and they were both blue, the exact color  
of your left eye. She was albino, so she was not like the rest of my family (black hair  
and blue eyes.). I'm a little different, because of my eyes being hazel. They were not  
originally hazel, however.**_

_**One day, when I was eight, Sienna was eleven, and Helena was five, our  
parents went out. Sienna was in charge, and we got into an argument. I went into  
a very violent rage. Being that I was only eight and I had no control over my magic,  
I caused an explosion that blew the whole sitting room apart. Helena and Sienna  
were both killed in the explosion, and I was devastated by their deaths. To my  
horror, my parents didn't care, because they were both Squibs.**_

_**That's why I joined the Dark Lord. I couldn't live with myself, knowing  
that I accidentally killed my two best friends and sisters. The things I did during  
the first war made my conciense go away, and I could finally relax.**_

_**That all stopped when you were born. You looked almost exactly like Helena.  
That is why your middle name is Helena. I thought I would be able to survive it, but  
as you grew, you began to look more and more like Helena. It made my conciense  
come back, and I was finding it more and more difficult to look at you. When you hit  
age five, you were almost exactly like her, and I could hardly bare to look at you,  
because you showed what could have happened if I did not lose my temper. When  
your father said we needed to kill you, I was a little reluctant, yet you were causing  
me so much pain.**_

_**I still want you dead for this reason. I cannot go through this pain anymore,  
and I consider myself blessed that the Dark Lord has a plan that will take you down  
emotionally until you feel the same way as me whenever I look at you.**_

_**From,  
Sophia Emese Rei**_

_**P.S.- My nose still hurts from our encounter in the graveyard last year. Shame on you.

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**_

**~*~*~Chapter One: Depression~*~*~**

Sixteen year old Larisa Helena Rei lay motionless on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression. Her long white hair with a black streak in the bangs was tied into a ponytail and pulled off to the side so it draped over her right shoulder. Her mismatched eyes, a blue left eye, and a red right eye with a slash over it, were both misty, yet devoid of any emotion. Slowly, she reached up to brush a loose hair out of her face. Her left sleeve fell slightly as she rose her arm, revealing the Dark Mark branded on her arm. She kept her eyes off of it as she lowered her arm back to her side, then continued to stare up at the ceiling.

The room was a little cramped, but it was nice. In front of the window on the right side of the room, there was a desk that had an empty cage sitting on it. Next to the cage, there was a small stack of books that were starting to gather dust. The most interesting thing on the desk, however, was a box that had very strange patterns carved into it. There was an old skeleton key sitting on top of it, also gathering dust. On the other side of the room, there was a wardrobe, and next to the there was an old bookshelf with five shelves. Only the top two shelves had books on it, though. The other shelves were occupied by random objects. Among them was another box with an interesting pattern carved into it, only it didn't lock, and it was much smaller. On a table next to the bed, there was a small clock and another box. Only, this one was long, flat, and shiny. The lid was open slightly, revealing two wands.

A few feeble rays of sunshine came creeping into the room, falling across Larisa's face. She blinked a few times, and then the sun vanished as quickly as it had come. The sun rarely shone anymore, not since Lord Voldemort had revealed himself to the public by mistake. Open war had been declared on the Wizarding world, and a large depression was sweeping the whole nation (mainly due to the dementors, formerly guards of Azkaban prison, deserting the prison and swooping up and down Britain.). The Ministry of Magic was trying to find and capture Lord Voldemort's followers, yet they were proving incompetent at the task.

Larisa herself was an unwilling follower of Lord Voldemort, forced into the task back in 1994, when she was only fourteen years old. Then, just a few weeks ago, she had discovered a prophecy about herself while fighting against Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Then, only a few days after that, she received a letter from her mother and sworn enemy for life. The letter was safely tucked away in the box on her desk, where she had taken to hiding things she hoped she would someday forget about. There was another thing that was haunting her, but she couldn't put it in a box to try and forget about...

Lord Voldemort had a plan to kill her by taking her down emotionally, and said plan had come into effect just a week ago. The worst part was that it was working. Just an hour after in came into effect, Larisa had gone into depression, much deeper than she was before.

"Larisa?" There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Larisa asked, her voice strained. Her eyes remained misty, but still devoid of any emotion. The door opened, and a woman with very curly black hair came in.

"Are you alright? You're awfully quiet..." She asked.

"When am I ever not quiet anymore?" Larisa asked, still staring at the ceiling.

"You're quieter than you usually are." The woman pointed out, and Larisa couldn't help but agree. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Duh." Larisa said, sitting up. "Same thing that's been on my mind since last week."

"Well, I will admit I'm feeling a little hysterical over the whole thing myself." The woman said, looking at the floor. "Well...Fiona has dinner cooking. I don't want you coming back up here after dinner, though."

"Fine." Larisa said absently. The woman nodded, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. "I just wish that you weren't as upset as I am..."

Bellatrix Lestrange was Larisa's guardian ever since Larisa's father escaped Azkaban back in January. Larisa's mother had originally sent Larisa to live with Bellatrix's sister, Narcissa, but when Larisa's father escaped (Bellatrix had escaped, also.), for Larisa's safety, she had to go live with Bellatrix. Larisa and Bellatrix had been close friends for a long time, even though Bellatrix was about twenty-nine years older than Larisa. Bellatrix was just as upset as Larisa nowadays, because her husband had been sent back to Azkaban.

Slowly, Larisa got up from her bed and walked over to the wardrobe. She pulled open the door, then looked at the inside of it, where there was a mirror hanging. She looked at her reflection, again pushing a loose hair out of her face. She seemed paler than usual, which was a feat that was very hard for her to achieve. Slowly, she closed the door of the wardrobe, turned on her heal, and walked out of her room.

**&%$&%$&%$**

"Pawn to C three." Bellatrix said, and a white pawn started to crawl forwards on the chessboard. Larisa sighed, then began to look over her chess pieces. She saw that there was a move she could make that Bellatrix had overlooked...

"Queen to C three." Instantly, a black queen started to beat up Bellatrix's pawn before dragging it off the board. "Whoops."

"Oh, I am going to get you back..." Bellatrix said. She sent a knight forwards, only to have it be thrown off the board by Larisa's queen. After about fifteen more minutes of play, and many chess pieces being thrown off the board, Larisa had claimed victory. "You win...Again."

"Yay." Larisa said without excitement. Bellatrix collected the pieces and dumped them onto the chessboard before fixing Larisa a confused stare.

"Well, your eyes have gone from misty to glassy. It's an improvement." She said after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm going to bed." Larisa murmured, and she made to get up from her seat.

"Larisa...It's seven-thirty." Bellatrix said severely, looking at her watch. "Didn't I tell you that you were not to slip off to your room after dinner?"

"But Bella-"

"No 'buts', Larisa." Bellatrix said firmly. Larisa folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, glaring down at the table. "What do you do when you're staying hidden in your room all day, anyway?"

"Nothing. I just sit and stare at the wall, because that's all I feel like doing. It's boring here, seeing that there are no spiders anymore." Larisa said angrily. Bellatrix flinched a little. Larisa knew full well that Bellatrix was deathly afraid of spiders, and she had made sure that the house-elf, Fiona, had gotten rid of every last one.

"It must be the dementors swooping all over the place." Bellatrix said, and Larisa looked up at her.

"It's also the plan that the Dark Lord has...I hate him, Bella, I really do."

"I hate him to, Larisa." Bellatrix said softly. "That's why I'm doing what I can to help Draco. He'll be coming over tomorrow so I can teach him Occlumency. You and Narcissa can go do something together."

"Sounds fun." Larisa said sarcastically.

"Listen, don't fret over this whole ordeal just yet. I don't want to have to have Fiona watch you all the time, but I will tell her to do that if I have to."

"You wouldn't..." Larisa said, stunned. Bellatrix nodded.

"I would." Quickly, she glanced at her watch. "It's eight o'clock. You can go now."

Quickly, Larisa scurried out of the kitchen and rushed up the stairs to the second floor.

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**WH00T! **

**Remember, if you haven't read "Who to Trust, Who to Hate" yet, you should read that first. If you haven't read "Torn Between Beliefs" yet, you need to go read that, then "Who to Trust, Who to Hate", and then you may read this.**

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	2. The Unbreakable Vow

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Two: The Unbreakable Vow~*~*~**

A couple of days later, the sun was actually shining, so Bellatrix told Larisa to go outside for a while. Larisa angrily agreed, grabbing a book before stomping outside and slamming the front door a little harder than necessary. She spotted a large tree near the edge of the Manor's enchantments, and she made her way over to it. There were several knots in the tree, some of which had many holes in them. Tucking her book under her arm, Larisa reached up and grabbed onto the highest knot she could reach. She put her foot on the lowest knot she could find, then did the same with her other foot. After that, though, she lost her balance and fell onto the ground with a dull _thud_. She furrowed her eyebrows, thinking of a way to get up the tree while holding her book. Suddenly, there was a soft hoot, and Larisa's screech owl, Claire, came fluttering down from the top of the tree.

"Of course..." Larisa muttered, picking up her book. "Claire, can you bring this up to me when I get up in the tree?"

Clarie gave a loud hoot, indicating that she understood. Larisa smiled, then got to her feet. She reached up and grabbed the highest knot she could reach, then found another knot with her foot. Using her now free left hand, she grabbed another knot, and then with her free foot, she pushed off of the ground.

She continued to climb up the tree, until finally, she reached a branch. She reached up and grabbed it, then pulled herself onto it. Holding onto the trunk, she managed to stand up, and then she pulled herself onto the next branch. She kept doing this until she was quite high up, level with the second floor of the manor.

"Come up here, Claire!" Larisa called, and the screech owl took flight, clutching the book with her feet. She dropped it into Larisa's lap, then landed in front of her. "Thanks." Larisa opened up the book, and then she seemed to escape the real world.

Larisa didn't know how much time had passed, and she only returned to the real world when a familiar voice called out to her.

"Hey! What are you doing all the way up there?"

"Reading." Larisa called back, looking down. "Here. Catch." She held the book out and dropped it before scrambling downwards. Claire took off for Larisa's bedroom window as Larisa reached the point where the branches ended, and she climbed down the trunk rather quickly. "So what brings you here?" She asked as she turned around.

"Bellatrix's been giving me Occlumency lessons." Draco replied, holding the book out to her. Larisa took it back, smiling a little. "She told me you were out here. I couldn't find you, though."

"Well, I was up a tree."

"I can see that." Draco said, and her brushed a leaf out of Larisa's hair. "What were you reading?"

"_The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. Bella gave it to me for my fifteenth birthday. _The Fountain of Fair Fortune_ is my favorite story in there." Larisa said.

"That's the one where the witch, Amata, marries the muggle knight, Sir Luckless, I think?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"My father tried to get Dumbledore to remove it from the library."

"Did Dumbledore respond by saying that purebloods just lie about muggles, muggleborns, and the like on their family trees?" Larisa asked.

"Yes...That's exactly what he said...How did you...?"

"Wild guess, because it's kind of true..."

"Except in your family."

"Not necessarily. My two aunts were Squibs, but they died." Larisa pointed out as she and Draco started walking back to the house. "I'm sure that there were probably more Squibs in both sides of my family."

"You should check that cursed book. Maybe it has information?" Draco suggested.

"I'll get it out eventually...Right now though, I just like to stare at the wall." Larisa said as she opened the front door.

**&%$&%$&%$**

There was a faint popping noise, and a short hooded figure went scrambling up a riverbank. There was another faint popping noise, and then a second hooded figure went scrambling up the riverbank after the shorter figure.

"Larisa, wait!" The taller figure called in a low hiss. The short figure turned and lowered her hood.

"No, I can't, Bella." Larisa said before pulling her hood back up and continuing up the bank. Bellatrix scrambled after her, panting.

"Larisa-"

"Bella, I can't live with this!" Larisa hissed, not stopping. Bellatrix hurried to catch up with her as Larisa darted onto an old street, where several street lamps were out.

"Just l-"

"Bella, you heard what Narcissa said! This is impossible! We're going to need outside help!"

"I agree, but going out now? Near midnight?" Bellatrix asked, trying to keep her hood from flying backwards as she ran after Larisa.

"Yes." Larisa snarled.

"But still, we don't know if we can trust him!"

"I trust Professor Snape, Bella. He's in the Order, remember?"

"Yes, but Wormtail is living with him currently, and we know that we can't trust THAT rat!"

"Bella, I can't take his anymore. I don't care if Wormtail overhears, we can just kill him."

"Larisa!" Bellatrix said, gasping.

"Or modify his memory." Larisa said hastily as she turned onto a street called _Spinner's End_.

"I'm fearing for your sanity, I really am." Bellatrix said, shaking her head. "Wait!" She called, for Larisa had broken into a run again. By the time Bellatrix had caught up, Larisa was knocking on the door. The door opened, and a man with long black, greasy hair and black eyes looked out at Larisa and Bellatrix. Larisa pulled her hood off, and the man took a small step backwards.

"Who dragged who here?" He asked, looking from Larisa to Bellatrix, who had just lowered her hood.

"Well, we were arguing about this, and she just kind of...Stomped out of the house and Disaparated here, so I followed...So...She dragged me here, Snape." Bellatrix said, watching Larisa out of the corner of her eye. Larisa was on the verge of a nervous collapse, much paler than she normally was (A feat very hard to achieve, at that...). Her eyes were very large and glassy, and she started to wring her hands nervously. "I don't think she's right in the head."

"I'm perfectly fine except for some...issues." Larisa said, her voice becoming very strained.

"_Some_ issues? Larisa, you're depressed. There's no denying it." Bellatrix pointed out, setting a hand on her shoulder. As soon as she did this, though, there was a faint popping noise behind them, and another tall figure appeared, slightly taller than Larisa, but slightly shorter than Bellatrix. "Hello, Narcissa."

"How did you-" The figure began to say, lowering her hood.

"You've got, like, some homing device on us both." Bellatrix said flatly. Narcissa looked a little confused. "A phrase that Larisa said she picked up when she was little from a muggle bookshop."

"Oh. Well, anyway, Severus, could, er, we, speak with you? It's very important." Narcissa said, still looking a little confused. Snape looked at the three of them, then stepped aside so they could enter. Bellatrix steered Larisa into the house, closely followed by Narcissa, who's eyes, like Larisa's, were large and glassy. Snape closed the door, and Larisa looked around the room. It looked much like Lestrange Manor when it was still being cleaned up, with dust and old furniture. Snape nodded at the couch, and Larisa sat down, Narcissa sitting down next to her. Bellatrix stood behind them, still holding onto Larisa's shoulder. Larisa opened her mouth to speak, when Snape held a hand up and pointed his wand at a bookshelf. With a bang, it flew open, revealing a hidden staircase and a small man, who had watery eyes and a pointed nose.

"We have guests, Wormtail." Snape said. Wormtail crept down the steps and into the room, and Bellatrix tightened her grip on Larisa's shoulder.

"Narcissa!" Wormtail squeaked. "Bellatrix...And Larisa, too!"

"H-hello..." Larisa said quietly, her voice shaking a little. "Bella, you're cutting off the circulation in my shoulder."

"Sorry." Bellatrix said, and she lessened her grip.

"Now, Wormtail, kindly return to your room." Snape said, glaring at Wormtail.

"You-" He began to say, when Larisa made an ominous hissing noise that made him jump. Quickly, he turned and scurried up the stairs, and Snape flicked his wand, causing the bookshelf to slide back into place.

"What did you tell him?" Bellatrix asked.

"Nothing. I just hissed." Larisa said, her voice cracking a few times. Bellatrix took this as a warning sign, retightening her grip on Larisa.

"Now then...Why have you three come?" Snape asked, and Larisa covered her face with her hands to hide the tears had begun to slide down her face. Narcissa stared at the floor, her eyes also a little wet. Bellatrix looked from Larisa to Narcissa before sighing.

"You two always get so hysterical..." She whispered.

"You said you were a little hysterical yourself, Bella." Narcissa said, her voice strained. Larisa merely nodded her head, her face still hidden by her hands.

"Yes, but I have a different way of showing my hysteria over the whole situat-"

"Hold on a second..." Snape said, holding a hand up. He seemed to be listening for something, and he pointed his wand at the bookshelf again. There was a bang, and then the shelf moved. Wormtail was still standing there, and he looked temporarily speechless. Larisa lifted her face from her hands, revealing that her eyes had gone from large and glassy to red and misty. She glared dangerously at Wormtail before raising her wand and pointing it at him.

"No, Larisa." Bellatrix murmured, and Larisa lowered her wand. "Wormtail, get lost. You don't need to hear what we're here for."

"Why are you here, though?" Wormtail asked, keeping his eyes on Larisa's wand.

"That is none of your business. Now, go away, or I will be forced to hex you." Larisa snarled. "I know some good ones...One that makes your eyes fall out." Wormtail turned and quickly hurried up the stairs. Snape flicked his wand, and again, the bookshelf slid back into place. He then turned to Larisa.

"Do you know of such a hex?" Snape asked with interest.

"No." Larisa murmured before covering her face again. Tears had started to form in her eyes again.

"Well then...Again, why are you three here?" Snape asked, and Narcissa returned to glaring at a spot on the floor as if she was expecting it to catch fire at any second. Larisa feared that if she opened her mouth she'd start crying again, so she kept quiet. Snape looked up to Bellatrix hopefully, noticing that she wasn't trying to avoid talking.

"Well, all four of us are Occlumens, so it's safe to talk about the mi-mission." Bellatrix mumbled. Larisa made an odd noise and started to shake uncontrollably, and Narcissa stiffened. "You do know of it?"

"Yes." Snape said, and Larisa shook even harder.

"Why, though?" Narcissa asked, finally looking up from the floorboard she had been glaring at. "Why did the Dark Lord...?"

"Why? Why?" Larisa asked, stopping her crying and uncovering her face. Her eyes were red, and her voice was shaking. "I'll tell you why...Voldemort is an evil psychopath. That's why."

"We all know that, Larisa." Bellatrix said softly. "We believe that this is punishment for Lucius's mistake..." At this, Narcissa made an odd noise and covered her face. "Oh, God, you two are just...Oh, never mind. What we need though, is help. It is impossible for the task to be carried out without help." Larisa covered her face and started to shake again.

"Ah, yes." Snape said. "Are you planning to assist Draco in the task?" This question was addressed to Larisa, who uncovered her face. She was slightly cross-eyed, and a look of horror flitted across her face.

"If I need to...My skills could help mend the Vanishing Cabinet...B-but, I d-don't want Dumbledore to die. The world would fall apart." She stuttered.

"Larisa, I'm sorry to inform you of this, but Dumbledore is...dying. He was cursed very badly, and he only has a year to live." Snape said carefully. Larisa looked as though something very heavy had just been dropped on her head, and her eyes crossed again.

"Dying?" She croaked.

"Yes. Dying." Snape said firmly. Larisa covered her face again, slumping in her seat. "Now then, there is a way I could help Draco."

"How?" Narcissa asked, uncovering her face. Larisa did the same, her eyes wide and glassy again.

"The Unbreakable Vow." Snape said calmly, and Larisa gave a small gasp. Narcissa's eyes went wide, and Bellatrix get a tight grip on Larisa again. Slowly, Narcissa nodded and stood up. "Perhaps Larisa would like to be the Bonder?"

"I...I...Sure..." Larisa stuttered, pushing Bellatrix's hand off of her shoulder. Slowly, she pulled her wand out of her pocket, and she walked over to Snape and Narcissa, who had grasped hands.

"Will you watch over my son as he attempts to fulfill the task the Dark Lord has set?" Narcissa asked. Larisa pointed her wand at their wrists, waiting for Snape's answer.

"I will." He said, and Larisa gave her wand a tiny jerk. A blue flame shot out of her wand and wound around Narcissa and Snape's hands.

"Will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from any harm?"

"I will." Again, Larisa jerked her wand, and another flame shot out.

"And, should it prove necessary, if Draco should fail, will you carry out the task?"

"I will." Larisa jerked her wand for the third and final time, and a third flame shot out, entwining itself around Snape and Narcissa's wrists. It glowed for a minute, then died out. Snape and Narcissa released each other's hands, and Larisa pocketed her wand. She felt slightly relieved, yet she still felt a little hysterical.

"Come on, Larisa." Bellatrix said, tugging on her arm. "It's well past your bedtime."

"I'm sixteen."

"And you still need your sleep. Now." Bellatrix said severely.

"Fine."

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**Ok, I'm SO sorry for not updating sooner!**

**(Read&Review)**


	3. Photographs

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Three: Photographs~*~*~**

The next day, Saturday, was a little chilly. Larisa decided to go outside and climb the tree again, so she dug out the light green sweater she got for her birthday, grabbed one of her textbooks, and went outside. She went right up to the tree, and, right on cue, her owl came swooping down from the top of the tree.

"Hi Claire. You know what to do." Larisa murmured, setting the book down at her feet next to Claire. She reached up and grabbed onto the highest knot she could reach, then found the lowest knot she could reach with her foot. She found another knot with her other hand, and used her free foot to push off the ground. Quickly, she scrambled up the tree until she reached her favorite branch. "Up here, Claire!"

The owl gave a loud hoot, grabbed the book with her feet, and flew up to Larisa, dropping the book in her lap. She then landed on the branch next to Larisa and fixed her large eyes on her.

"Thanks, Claire." Larisa said before opening the book. Claire hooted, and then fell silent. After about an hour, Larisa closed her book and just stared off into space, thinking.

"Larisa!" Bellatrix's voice called, and she appeared on the front step. Larisa quickly dropped her book to the ground and scrambled out of the tree, jumping when she was about five feet from the ground. She grabbed her book, then hurried over to Bellatrix.

"Yes?"

"A letter for you in the kitchen. Two, really." Bellatrix said, pointing over her shoulder. Larisa followed Bellatrix inside and to the kitchen, where Fiona was dusting. Two letters sat on the table, and one had the Hogwarts crest on it...

"Oh hell..." Larisa murmured, her eyes going wide as they came to a rest on the crest. "My OWL grades are here..." Quickly, she sprang forwards and grabbed the letter, opening it. She pulled the parchment out with shaking hands, and read it over.

**&%$&%$&%$**

**Ordinary Wizarding Level Results**

_**Pass Grades Fail Grades  
**_**Outstanding (O) Poor (P)****  
Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)  
Acceptable (A) Troll (T)**

_**Larisa Helena Rei has achieved:**_

**Arithmancy E  
Astronomy A  
Care of Magical Creatures A  
Charms O  
Defense Against the Dark Arts O  
Divination A  
Herbology E  
History of Magic A  
Potions O  
Transfiguration O**

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa's eyes slowly returned to normal proportions as she read the letter through, and she smiled.

"What did you get?" Bellatrix asked, and Larisa looked up at her.

"Ten OWLs." Larisa replied, looking back down at the letter. "Oh wow...How many OWLs did my mum get?"

"I wouldn't know...We weren't on speaking terms. Mainly because we hate each other, now more than ever." Bellatrix said with a slight bitter tone.

"Oh." Larisa said, and she set the parchment down onto the table before picking up the second letter. "This one is from Karina...Does she know about...?"

"Yes, she knows about the mission." Bellatrix said as if she had just read Larisa's mind. Larisa shrugged and opened the letter, pulling the parchment out and unfolding it.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_** Dear Larisa,**_

_** Bellatrix has told me about how you are feeling distressed over the task  
****that Draco has been set. For this, I tell you not to worry, for Voldemort has****  
overlooked one little detail. But now, I have something very important to tell you,  
regarding your past.**_

_** I found out about how you've finally been told how Sophia went bad.  
You now know how your parents went bad; Borislav, because it was expected of  
him, and Sophia, consumed by grief for her sisters. I have seen proof that you  
greatly resemble Sophia's younger sister, Helena.**_

_** I also found that your mother originally had blue eyes much like your  
one blue eye. Apparently, she transfigured them, because the color caused her  
more grief over her little sister.**_

_** Enclosed are two pictures that may interest you. I found them just  
yesterday evening.**_

_** From,  
Karina**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

"Hey Bella?" Larisa asked, looking up from the parchment.

"Yes?" Bellatrix asked. She had sat down at the table and had vanished behind a copy of the _Daily Prophet_, and Fiona had left the room.

"Did my mum have blue eyes when she got to Hogwarts? I think you would have been in your seventh year..." Larisa asked, her voice trailing off. Bellatrix folded a corner of the paper down and peered at Larisa with a quizzical expression before furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah...Yeah, she did...I remember, just after she had been Sorted, she came over and sat next to Narcissa...Scrawny little git, Sophia was..." Bellatrix shook her head. "She abandoned conversation with us after a few minutes, looked up the table, and sort of smiled. She had this really creepy smile...Ugh, I don't like to think about it." Bellatrix said with a small shudder, and then she vanished behind the _Daily Prophet_ again.

"Oh." Larisa said, and then she set the letter down on the table before picking up the envelope and tipping it over. Two photographs slid out, but the occupants didn't seem to notice. In fact, the occupants weren't even moving. They were colored muggle photographs. This struck Larisa as odd, and she picked up the first one. She knew immediately which side of the family this one was.

There was a very tall woman with a long sheet of sleek black hair and brilliant blue eyes standing next to a man who was slightly taller. He had jet black hair and brilliant blue eyes, as well. In front of them stood a girl who looked to be about eleven years old. She too had long, sleek black hair, but it was tied into a ponytail and draped over her right shoulder. Her eyes were also a very soft brown color. Absentmindedly, Larisa reached up and traced the slash over her right eye before refocusing on the picture. Next to the girl was another girl, who couldn't have been more than eight years old. Larisa recognized her as Sophia, there was no mistaking that insane glint in her eyes, which were a brilliant blue color. In front of Sophia and the other girl sat a little girl who looked much like Larisa. The little girl was perched on a stool, and she had long, white hair with a black streak in the bangs. Her eyes were the exact same color as Larisa's left eye, and they were alive with excitement. She looked to be about five years old, and was the only one in the picture who was smiling. Larisa turned the photograph over, and there was writing on the back.

_**Sabine and Rudolf Irli****  
and their daughters  
****Sienna Violet Irli****  
Sophia Emese Irli  
-and-  
Helena Alice Irli**_

_**May 16th, 1966**_

Larisa turned the picture over and looked at the occupants again. First, she focused on Sabine, who could only be the tall woman standing in the back. She was stony-faced, and she seemed to give off the air of having a very volitale personality. The man next to her, Rudolf, also gave off this air. The girl next to Sophia, Sienna, however, gave off the air of a sweet, harmless person. Helena gave off the air of wanting to go play, but she wanted to remain in front of everyone. Larisa didn't bother to look at Sophia, and she set the photograph down. She reached out and grabbed the second photograph, already knowing which side of the family it was...

In the back, there was a woman with long blonde hair and violent green eyes. She looked to be in her late fifties, and her head was tilted to one side. Next to her stood a man with short blonde hair and cloudy green eyes. He also looked to be in his late fifties, and both people were very tall. In front of them stood a girl with long blonde hair braided into a plait, and she had violently purple eyes. With a jolt, Larisa recognized her as Karina. It was hard for Larisa to imagine Karina like this, she looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. There was no mistaking those eyes, though. Karina was holding a small boy who looked to be about three years old. He had short blonde hair, and he had deadened green eyes. With another jolt, Larisa recognized him as Borislav. Quickly, Larisa turned the photograph over. Like the first one, there was writing on it.

_**Agnessa and Alexander Rei  
and their children  
Katherina Esm**__**é **__**Rei  
-and-  
Borislav Rei**_

_**June 30th, 1960**_

Larisa set the photograph down, staring at the letters on the back in shock.

"Hey Bella..." Larisa said absently.

"Yes?" Bellatrix asked, still hidden behind the _Daily Prophet_.

"Take a look at these." Larisa slid both photographs over to Bellatrix, who looked mildly surprised.

"And these people are?"

"Well, in this one..." Larisa pointed at the photograph containing the Irli's. "That's Sabine..." Larisa set a finger on top of Sophia's mother's face. "That's Rudolf..." She set a finger on the man's face. "That's Sienna..." She set a finger on Sienna's face. "That's Sophia, and that's Helena." Larisa set a finger on each girl's face before pulling her hand away from the photographs as if they were going to bite her. "The next one is Borislav's family...Karina and Borislav...And their parents Agnessa and Alexander."

"Wow..." Bellatrix said, looking at the photographs.

"Yes...I just, sort of, met my whole family..." Larisa murmured. She glared at the picture of Sophia, as if it had just insulted her.

* * *

**We finally find out Karina's real name, and other stuffs.**

**(Read&Review)  
**


	4. The Locket

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**

**~*~*~Chapter Four: The Locket~*~*~**

After dinner, Larisa managed to slip upstairs to her room with the letter from Karina and the two photographs. She closed the door quickly, then slid her hand u and down the wall, looking for the light switch. After finding the switch and turning it on, she walked over to her desk. Slowly, she reached out and grasped the skeleton key that was sitting on top of the box on her desk. She found the lock, and then she slid the key into the lock. There was a click, and then Larisa pulled the lock off. With little effort, she lifted the lid up, and then lifted the box up and set it on the ground before sitting down in front of it. Slowly, she went through everything that was tucked inside. The first thing she pulled out was a Galleon, and she gave it a faint smile before setting it down next to her. The next thing was a small flask which was full of a strange, silvery substance. Larisa sat that down next to the Galleon, then returned her gaze back to the box.

The only other things in there were bits of faded parchment with odd notes on them, two letters, and an old article from the _Daily Prophet_, dating November eighth, 1976. Larisa vividly remembered the day, back when she was fourteen, when she found this in the library. She duplicated it, and this was the duplicate. Larisa was mildly surprised that it had lasted over two years...

She also vividly remembered that on that same day she had gone into a memory of Sophia's, a memory that made her loathe Sophia more than ever. Larisa shook her head, then returned to the present. She set the article aside, then lifted the final thing that was in the box out. It was a book that apparently carried a nasty curse, and Larisa was the only one who was able to safely handle it without getting her hands burned. Absentmindedly, she flipped the pages, smiling faintly at the words and letters, which were in Russian. She came to a rest at what should have been the last chapter, but it looked as though someone had taken a whole ink bottle and poured all of it's contents over the pages. After five pages (all of which looked as though ink had been poured over them), the page after that had been completely torn out. After a couple more pages, though, she found one that wasn't completely blotted out...

Quickly, Larisa straightened up. She looked at the page, her eyebrows furrowed as she translated the words. Without getting up, she reached up and felt around the top of her desk, finally grabbing a hold of her favorite quill, which was Self-Inking. She wrote the English translation under the words, and then, in the blank space under the words, she rewrote them. Afterwards, she sat her quill down by her side, then read over what she had written.

_**Those who have gone over it have found that there is a message for the Last herself  
within the prophecy possibly, and they hope that someday, she will find it.**_

Larisa slapped the book shut, her eyes going very wide and glassy as it dawned on her.

** _There ARE more words after my name..._** She said in her mind. Quickly, she put everything back into the box, this time adding the one of the two photographs and Karina's letter, then replaced the lid and put the box back onto the desk. She locked it, still pondering and shocked, even as she walked over to the wardrobe and opened it, slipping the other photograph into her coat pocket.

**&%$&%$&%$**

"Well, I find it incredible that we were able to shake her off..." Larisa murmured as she and Draco hurried towards Knockturn Alley.

"Same...It's just up here..." Draco said, looking over his shoulder. They passed a very large, bright shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but Draco didn't seem to notice it. Larisa thought she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the window, though...

"Tell me again why we're going to this...Borgin and Burkes?" Larisa asked, pushing the trio out of her mind.

"Montague told me about a Vanishing Cabinet there, remember?" Draco told her.

"Oh...Right...The twin is at Hogwarts, correct?" Larisa asked, suddenly remembering.

"Yes, but it's smashed. We need to find out how to fix it..." Draco's voice trailed off, and he looked over his shoulder again. "Are you sure you still want to help with this plan?"

"As of right now, yes...In an hour it will probably be no, but what else do you expect?"

"I was thinking five minutes, to be honest..." Draco murmured. "This way." Quickly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her in the right direction. There was a battered sign over the street they walked onto, reading _Knockturn Alley_.

"Well, this is much different..." Larisa muttered. Indeed, the street was much different than Diagon Alley. The street was very dark and completely deserted, and the shops were all completely empty. They passed one shop that had a display that looked horribly like shrunken heads. Larisa shuddered a little, and focused on walking.

"We're here." He said gravely, and Larisa stopped and looked at the sign over the shop, which was the only open shop.

"Oh, this place looks a little dodgy..." Larisa murmured.

"Duh." Draco said as he opened the door. A small bell rang at the door, and Larisa hesitated. She didn't like the idea of going into a shop that seemed to be full of cursed objects, but she was very interested in what would possibly be in the shop. "You coming?"

"Y-yeah..." Larisa said, her curiosity getting the better of her. She stepped into the shop, then looked around a little. It was absolutely terrifying and exciting at the same time, and Larisa's eyes fell on the large Vanishing Cabinet. She shuddered slightly, when an old, stooping man with oily hair came out of the back of the shop.

"Ah, young mister Malfoy..." He said, bowing. His eyes swiveled around, and they came to rest on Larisa, who shuddered yet again. "I don't know who you are, though..."

"I-I'm Larisa Helena Rei..." Larisa said in a small voice. "No relation to the Malfoy's whatsoever." Larisa then remembered saying the same thing to Harry, Ron, and Hermione two years ago at the Quidditch World Cup.

"Lovely meeting you..." The man said, bowing. Larisa took a small step backwards; she didn't like this man one bit. "I am assuming you're pureblood?"

"Funny, everyone always associates me with being pureblooded." Larisa said in a loud voice.

"Larisa, please try to not go flying into a rage..." Draco said quietly.

"Fine." Larisa said sourly, folding her arms.

**&%$&%$&%$**

"Come on, open up..." Sophia urged, shoving at a locked door. She gave up the attempt and whipped her wand out, pointing it at the door. "Oh, for Pete's sake..._Alohomora!_" The door swung open, and she walked inside a dark hallway. She closed the door behind her, then pointed her wand at it. "_Colloportus!_" The door clicked, and Sophia smirked before turning around to face the hallway. With a lazy flick of her wand, a bunch of old-fashioned lights turned on, casting gloomy shadows over the hallway. She would just hurry upstairs, get the things she had hidden, then Aparate as far as she could safely get to England.

Quickly, she rushed down the hallway and up a flight of rickety stairs. She turned and nearly ran down another hallway until she reached a door. She reached out and grasped the doorknob, opening the door into a small bedroom. Not pausing, she swept over to a bed and kneeled down, pulling up a loose floorboard. There, under the floorboard, was a dented box. Sophia went much whiter in the face as she saw the dent, and she pulled the box out. The lock on it was broken. Fearing the worst, she opened the box.

There was nothing inside. Sophia gave the box a horrified look, then nearly dropped it back to the spot under the floorboard as tears started to run down her face.

"It can't have been stolen..." She said to herself, praying that it was true as she stood up and started to comb through the room. After an hour's worth of tedious looking, Sophia came to the conclusion that indeed, Sienna's locket was gone, and worst of all, Sophia had no idea where it could be.

**&%$&%$&%$**

Draco and the man, who Larisa now knew was named Borgin, were talking, and Larisa took the opportunity to look around the shop. It was full of horrible dark objects, but there was something in a glass case that caught Larisa's eye: a golden, heart-shaped locket with a green snake on the from that was twisting itself into an 'S'. It looked somewhat familiar, and Larisa's hand twitched towards her coat pocket. She slipped her hand inside and pulled out the photograph of Sophia's family, and she stared at it. She noticed now that the girl standing next to Sophia, Sienna, was wearing a golden locket. Larisa slowly returned her gaze to the glass case, and she stared hard at the locket before looking back at the locket in the photograph. Indeed, this was the same locket. Absentmindedly, Larisa lifted her hand up and set it on the case. She was unaware that she was shaking slightly.

"That's mine..." She murmured, her eyes fixed on the snake.

"Pardon?" Borgin said, suddenly stopping his conversation with Draco.

"That locket...It's mine." Larisa said, clearly this time.

"It can't be, some woman came in to sell it to me back in 1976-"

"The year Sophia left Hogwarts..." Larisa breathed. "About how old was the woman who sold this to you?" Larisa was not expecting the answer she got.

"Either her late fifties or early sixties...She was very tall, long black hair, blue eyes...Her English was very heavily accented, and she seemed to be in a hurry..." Borgin said. "Accepted six Galleons for that thing, it's worth over a million, though-"

"Did you catch this woman's name?" Larisa snarled, very slowly turning away from the case.

"Sabine, I think...Sabine Irli..." Borgin said, screwing up his eyes. "She muttered something about this belonging to her filthy Squib daughter who had died ten years prior...She said it with a straight face, so I'm thinking she was pleased..."

"No wonder Sophia's nuts..." Larisa snarled. "That locket is rightfully mine now..."

"Excuse me?" Borgin said, highly affronted. Draco was looking thoroughly confused, and Larisa's cheeks, normally completely devoid of any color, flushed a poisonous shade of pink.

"Mine. Sabine Irli is my maternal grandmother...That 'filthy Squib' daughter of hers would have been my aunt Sienna, had Sophia not accidentally killed her..." She spat, brandishing the photograph and marching over to Borgin. She shoved it at him, and he looked down at it.

"Yes, there, in the back...That's the woman."

"Look at the tall girl in front of her. She's wearing that locket."

"Just because you have photographic proof of it belonging to you doesn't mean that it's yours. I bought it." Borgin said, and Larisa snatched the photograph out of his hand. She wanted to hit him hard across the face, but she decided against it.

"Oh really, you insolent little worm?" Instantly, Larisa clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Well, there's a time when you open your mouth and your mother's voice comes out..." Draco said in a flat tone that seemed to be hiding a large amount of shock.

"Never mind that, I just want my locket." Larisa snarled. "I can prove it's mine. Go get it."

"Fine." Borgin said, and he walked over to the case and took the locket out. He shuffled back over, and held it out to Larisa, who snatched it out of his hand. "Well?"

"Give me a second." Larisa said dangerously, and she found the clasp that held the golden heart shut. She prised it open, and a folded piece of parchment came fluttering out. Larisa picked it up, very carefully unfolding it and reading the note that was written.

_**This locket belongs to Sienna V. Irli.**_

In the two windows of the locket, there were two photographs. One was of Sophia, and one was of Helena.

"There." She said was a tone of savage triumph. She showed the pictures and the bit of parchment to Borgin.

"I still bought it." He said after a second of silence.

"It's still mine." Larisa snarled. "Even if you bought it, it's rightfully mine." Borgin couldn't get out of that one.

"Fine." He finally said, and Larisa closed the locket and pocketed it.

"Well, we should be off, Larisa..." Draco said. "My mother is going to come looking for us..."

"Yeah, that would end badly..." Larisa muttered.

"Do not mention his plan to anyone, especially my mother, Borgin. And keep that safe." Draco said, pointing at a pearl necklace. Larisa squinted her eyes and read the card that was propped up in front of it.

"'Has claimed the lives of nineteen muggle owners to date'...Why would you want something like that?"

"Part of the plan." Draco murmured. With that, he and Larisa hurried from the shop. As they left, Larisa could see Harry, Ron, and Hermione hiding under an Invisibility Cloak. They gave her a look of horror, especially when she froze. "Larisa?" Draco asked.

"What?"

"Er...Is there something there?" Draco asked. Larisa began to think fast.

"Yeah, there's something flying around...Gah, I'm loosing my mind..." Larisa lied. As she and Draco walked away, passing the trio, Larisa gave them a small wink.

* * *

**There is indeed a hidden message in the prophecy.**

**:D**

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**


	5. Professor Slughorn

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**

**~*~*~Chapter Five: Professor Slughorn~*~*~**

Larisa looked around her room one final time, making sure she didn't forget anything. She had the locked box that contained various artifacts, all of her textbooks and supplies, her wands, and Sienna's locket. She was already in her Hogwarts robes, and her long white hair was tied up in a ponytail. Larisa quickly picked up her backpack and slung it over her left shoulder, then grabbed her trunk and Claire's cage, then hurried out of her room. She arrived at the top of the stairs and walked down them.

"Wotcher!" A voice said, and Larisa smiled.

"Hey Tonks." Larisa said, and a short woman with mousy brown hair emerged from the shadows of the dark hallway. "Where's Bella?"

"In the kitchen." Tonks replied, and then the kitchen door opened, and Andromeda came strolling out. Larisa looked very confused for a minute.

"Polyjuice Potion." Andromeda said. "It's really me, Bellatrix."

"Oh..." Larisa murmured. "It's early, I can't comprehend anything right now..."

"That's quite alright." Bellatrix said, patting Larisa's shoulder. "We better be off, we have to meet Narcissa...She's still in hysterics-"

"And she still hates me..." Tonks said under her breath. Larisa vividly remembered the hissy fit Narcissa had thrown two years ago when Tonks had brought Larisa to Malfoy Manor after a visit to Azkaban. Larisa, who was in very deep shock, had promptly fainted, and didn't know what happened after she had fallen off the front step.

"Ah, well, she doesn't quite understand that muggleborns are just as magic as purebloods." Bellatrix said, and Tonks looked slightly surprised. "Has Dromeda been telling you stories?"

"Yes...She said you were a pureblood extremist."

"I met a few muggles after I left Hogwarts, and they don't seem to be much different that us magical people...They have their own form of magic." Bellatrix explained. Tonks still looked mildly surprised, but she shrugged it off and grabbed Larisa's trunk.

"Now, we're taking you by Side-Along Aparition...Though Bellatrix tells me you already know how to Aparate..." Tonks said, smiling at Larisa.

"Only when Riddle summons me am I able to Aparate." Larisa said, looking at her feet.

"'Riddle'?" Tonks asked.

"That's Voldemort's real name...Tom Riddle." Larisa explained.

"Now where did you find that one out?"

"You pick things up when your parents are Death Eaters." Larisa said airily. Bellatrix looked down at her watch.

"We better get going...It's a half-hour to eleven." She said, looking up.

"Right you are..." Tonks said brightly, and she turned and walked down the hall, towards the front door. Larisa straightened the strap of her backpack, then followed Tonks, Bellatrix right behind her.

**&%$&%$&%$**

"Quick, through the barrier..." Tonks said, looking over her shoulder. Bellatrix (who was still cleverly disguised as Andromeda.) set her hand on Larisa's shoulder and steered her over to the barrier onto platform nine and three-quarters.

"Do you honestly expect that Riddle is going to show up?" Larisa asked, slightly irritated.

"Yes." Bellatrix replied as she and Larisa went through the barrier. Larisa could not suppress a small smile, despite her best efforts. Bellatrix steered Larisa right over to where Narcissa and Draco were standing, and Narcissa looked shocked, narrowing her eyes at Bellatrix.

"What are you doing with her, Andromeda?" She asked coldly, and Larisa clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing.

"Well, _Cissy, I_ believe that _Bella_ wanted me to bring her here." Bellatrix said, winking on the emphasized words. Larisa was shaking slightly, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Oh!" Narcissa said, comprehension dawning on her face. "Clever..."

"Dora's idea." Bellatrix murmured as Tonks came up behind Larisa.

"Here's your stuff, Larisa. I'm stationed in Hogsmeade, so I'll see you on the first visit." Tonks said quickly. "Bye." And with that, she hurried off.

"Bye..." Larisa said quietly as she loaded her trunk onto the train.

"Now, listen..." Bellatrix said in a low voice. "I don't want you getting too hysterical this year. If you need anything, you can write to me or Karina. If you need anything immediately, go straight to Professor Snape. He's going to be keeping an eye on you for me this year, and he's ready to send you home if he has to."

"I always end up leaving school at some point during the year." Larisa muttered.

"I know, but we may really need to bring you home at some point. Keep your Occlumency applied at all times, and try to focus on your schoolwork. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Good girl. I'll be writing to you to make sure you're alright." Bellatrix said, and she hugged Larisa. "I'll see you at Christmas, if you want to come home."

"Alright. Bye Bella." Larisa murmured, then she hopped on the train. Bellatrix waved to her as the train left the station, and Larisa waved back until they turned a corner and Bellatrix vanished from view.

"Want to find a compartment?" Draco asked.

"Sure." Larisa said in a slightly absent voice, and she turned and followed Draco down the train car.

"So what did Bella want?"

"She said Snape is going to be keeping an eye on me this year. She didn't say why, though."

"That's odd." Draco said as he stopped outside a compartment and pulled open the door. "Hello Crabbe, Goyle."

"Hello." The two said at the same time. Larisa followed Draco into the compartment and sat down next to him. Crabbe narrowed his eyes at Larisa.

"You've grown a bit." He finally said.

"Three and a half inches." Larisa replied, leaning back into her seat and turning so she was looking out the window. She had indeed grown quite a bit over the summer, and was now only half of an inch away from six feet. Two more inches and she'd finally be eye level with Bellatrix. Then, the compartment door opened, and two people walked in. One of the people was Blaise Zabini, and the other person...

"Hello, Rei."

"Hello, Parkinson." Larisa said without looking away from the window.

"Have a nice summer?" Pansy asked acidly.

"No. It was awful." Larisa said flatly, still not looking away from the window. "I'd like to be left alone right now, if you don't mind."

"Oh. Alright, you little blood trait-"

"Shut it, Parkinson." Draco snapped, and Pansy fell silent. Larisa smirked, then continued looking out the window. Larisa and Pansy used to be friends, and then Pansy stabbed Larisa in the back earlier in the year. After that, they had a bitter rivalry, and neither would speak to each other unless they wished to insult.

**&%$&%$&%$**

Sophia darted into Knockturn Alley, hurrying towards Borgin and Burkes. She arrived outside the shop and kicked the door open. Borgin looked up from the till, mildly surprised.

"I know you have it." Sophia snarled. "Sabine sold it to you, didn't she?"

"Sold what to me?" Borgin asked. Sophia slapped her palm to her face.

"The locket. Sienna Violet Irli's locket. It was heart shaped, gold, and had a green snake on it, coiling into an 'S'. You have it." Sophia snarled.

"Oh, that? No, not anymore." Borgin said calmly.

"What?" Sophia said, shocked.

"I don't have it anymore."

"Did you sell it?"

"Nope. It was practically stolen from me." Borgin replied. "Very loud argument over it, as well."

"Who took it? Who?" Sophia asked, her voice getting high pitched and frantic.

"A girl. She was about sixteen. She had white hair with a black streak."

"A red and a blue eye? Slash over the red eye?"

"Yes...Her name was Larisa...She found it and demanded to know where I got it." Borgin explained, and Sophia went rigid. "She showed me a muggle photograph, there was a girl wearing the locket in that photograph...She opened it, and a piece of parchment came out...I had to let her take the locket, she was getting dangerous. Anything else you need to know?"

"N-no..." Sophia stuttered. "Sorry to bother you." With that, Sophia swept from the shop.

** _It's alright, Larisa has it, it's within possession of a family member..._** Sophia said in her mind.** _It's not good, though, I hate her..._ **Sophia walked a little faster. **_I hate her, I hate her, I hate her...I think..._**

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa slipped the locket over her head and turned it over in her hands. The metal was still cold, and the snake seemed to move slightly if she caught it in the right light.

"Where did you get that?" Pansy demanded, and Larisa looked up at her.

"I inherited it from my Aunt Sienna...Sort of...My grandmother sold it many years ago, and I bought it over the summer." Larisa explained coldly, looking back down at it. She could have sworn that the snake just winked at her, but she pushed that thought from her mind. Instead, she prised the locket open and stared at the two pictures. The picture of Sophia haunted her a little, as did the picture of Helena. The Helena in the picture didn't know that in possibly a few short days, she would be dead because of her favorite sister. Sophia's letter floated into her mind, the one little part that revealed why Sophia wanted Larisa dead.

**_When you hit age five, you were almost exactly like her, and I could hardly bare to look at you, because you showed what could have happened if I did not lose my temper._ **

Larisa shuddered, then closed the locket and put it back around her neck. The metal was still cold, and the locket felt sort of alive. Larisa felt a small wave of cheerfulness pass over her, and most of the worries left her mind. This struck her as slightly odd, but she wasn't complaining; it was nice to feel happy again. Again, the compartment door slid open, and a third year girl was standing there, holding two pieces of parchment.

"I'm supposed to give these to Blaise Zabini and Larisa Rei..." She said, and Larisa held out her hand and took the parchment the girl was holding out to her. Slowly, she unrolled it.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_** Larisa,**_

_** I would love if you would join me for lunch in compartment C.**_

_** -Professor H. Slughorn**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

"What is it?" Draco asked.

"Invite." Larisa said, getting to her feet. "I'll see you later." She followed Zabini out of the compartment, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Nice locket." He said.

"Thanks." Larisa murmured in reply as they walked down the crowded hallway towards compartment C.

"I wonder why we were invited to lunch?" Zabini asked. Larisa didn't reply, but racked her mind. The name Slughorn sounded very familiar... "Um, Rei, we're here."

"Oh..." Larisa said, stopping short. Zabini opened the compartment door, waiting for her to enter. Slowly, Larisa entered the compartment, and saw that there were a few people there already; two Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw, and a man that looked a little like a walrus with a mustache.

"Hello!" The walrus-man said brightly, and Larisa figured this was Professor Slughorn. "You must be Mr. Zabini, and you, I know who you are." He said, nodding at Zabini, then Larisa. "You look somewhat like your mother...She was that tall when she was sixteen. Come, sit!" Slowly, Larisa sat down, and she spotted a familiar person...

"Hello, Ginny." She said, feeling slightly relieved.

"Hello, Larisa." Ginny said, also looking relieved. The door slid open, and then Harry and Neville came in.

"Hello, Harry, Neville." Larisa said, nodding at them. The other Gryffindor in the compartment looked mildly shocked to see a Slytherin on speaking terms with several Gryffindors.

"Hello, Larisa." Neville said, sitting down. The other Gryffindor looked at Larisa with a quizzical look.

"You're a nice Slytherin?" He asked.

"Sometimes." Was all Larisa said. She wanted to know why she was even here, even as Slughorn began interrogating each student. Finally, he reached Larisa.

"Now, Miss Rei, if I heard correctly, you fought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the Ministry back in June, and you won the fight?" He asked. Larisa turned a delicate shade of pink as a couple jaws dropped, except for Harry, Ginny, and Neville.

"Yes."

"Ah, you have your mother's dueling abilities, alright!" He said with a laugh. Larisa cringed slightly, she didn't like being told she was like Sophia.

"It was just sheer luck..." Larisa muttered. "Riddle wasn't thinking straight...He was too shocked to see a teenager willingly take him on."

"Your mother must have been proud." Slughorn said.

"Er, we haven't been living together for close to three years...We hate each other." Larisa said uncomfortably. "To be honest, she was mad at me, and she wants me dead. She's a Death Eater, and a very evil one at that. I, on the other hand, would love nothing more than to see Riddle fall." Slughorn beamed at her, then turned to Harry, and Larisa traced her finger along the chain of the locket.

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**Strange locket, isn't it? I have a thing for things hidden under loose floorboards and mysterious lockets.**

**(Read&Review)**


	6. NEWT Classes

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter. I will never be J.K. Rowling, so I will never own Harry Potter.  


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**~*~*~Chapter Six: NEWT Classes~*~*~**

"Well, Snape finally has the Defense Against the Dark Arts position." Larisa said as she and Draco entered the Great Hall the next day.

"Yes, at last...You are taking Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Of course. If I'm going to be an Auror..." Larisa's voice trailed off as she sat down. "I'm dropping all non-essential subjects."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I'm not sure about anything anymore, really." Larisa said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Sometimes I just wish I was still at Durmstrang. It may have been an awful school, but it's familiar, and far from Voldemort."

"Speaking of Durmstrang, do you remember Karkaroff?" Draco asked.

"Yes, it's impossible to forget..." Larisa muttered.

"Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but..." Draco paused. "Karkaroff is...dead..." Larisa gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. Some tears formed in her eyes, but she didn't feel like crying for some reason. In fact, she didn't feel any shock or sadness...

"What happened?" She demanded.

"Well, apparently the Dark Lord sent two Death Eaters to find him and they had orders to bring Karkaroff to him...They tracked him down to a shack up North. Well, Karkaroff put up a fight, and one of the Death Eaters killed him and set off the Dark Mark." Draco explained. "Were you and Karkaroff close?"

"Sort of...He favored me over other students, and he always expressed concern over the fact that I didn't have many friends. He also turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the major fight I got into with a seventh year when I was in my first year." Larisa replied, uncovering her mouth very slowly. "That was really it, though...Would you happen to know who killed Karkaroff?"

"Either Dolohov or Borislav...All I know is the the Dark Lord wanted to kill Karkaroff himself."

"I'm thinking Borislav killed him..." Larisa snarled. She didn't feel any sadness still, which struck her as odd, and the anger she was feeling wasn't very strong. Absentmindedly, Larisa touched Sienna's locket, which she was still wearing. The metal was still very cold, and it still sort of felt alive.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, Borislav has defied direct orders from Voldemort in the past...Like when he was supposed to put the Minister of Magic under the Imperius Curse during the first war, he tortured her instead...He was ordered to get Potter's prophecy, and he was more focused on killing me...He was ordered to bring Karkaroff to Voldemort, and Borislav decided to kill Karkaroff instead. That makes sense, because Dolohov would never disobey an order..." Larisa explained. It was mildly surprising to hear herself come up with a theory like that so fast.

"I see your point." Draco replied.

"Well, the way things are run around here, I can ask him in June in the usual face off of good versus evil." Larisa said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. "Unless, of course..."

"Yeah, can we change the subject?" Draco asked.

"No need." Larisa hissed as Snape came up to her.

"Hello, Larisa. Now then, scheduling...I see you haven't applied for a number of classes you did well in..." Snape said.

"For certain reasons...What good is History of Magic going to do me when I'm in a duel?" Larisa asked. Snape narrowed his eyes.

"Well, alright then." With that, he tapped a sheet of paper and handed it to Larisa. "There's your schedule."

"Thanks." Larisa said, taking the paper from Snape and looking it over. Snape then turned to work on Draco's schedule, and then he swept away.

"Well, today, I've got a free period now, then Defense Against the Dark Arts, then another free period...After lunch I have double Potions..." Draco said while looking over his schedule.

"Same." Larisa said, pocketing hers. "We're in all of the same classes now."

"Yeah...We should get back to the common room." Draco said as everyone began to file out of the Great Hall.

"Good plan." Larisa said, getting up. "I need to write to Bella and Karina...There's something odd about this locket that they should know about..." Larisa touched the locket again, then she and Draco left the Great Hall.

"What's odd about it?"

"It's cold, and ever since I started wearing it, I've had a high level of control over my emotions." Larisa said. "It's kind of weird."

**&%$&%$&%$**

A while later, back down in the Slytherin common room, Larisa set down her quill. She took out her handkerchief and wiped her left hand off, then picked up the letter she had been writing and read it over.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_** Dear Karina,**_

_** I'm back at Hogwarts at last, and already, odd things have started happening.  
The strange thing that's started happening regards a locket I got in August. **_

_** This locket belonged to Sophia's older sister, Sienna, and Sophia's mother sold it back in 1976  
to Borgin at Borgin and Burkes. I got it, and I've been wearing it ever since. This is  
where the odd stuff starts to happen; it's very cold and never warms up, and I haven't  
felt very sad or angry whenever I wear it. A good example would be that this morning,  
I was informed that my former headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, was murdered, possibly  
by my dad. Normally, I would go into hysterics, yet I wasn't upset. At the time, I was  
wearing the locket. It's like it's casting a shield over me. To wrap the whole strangeness  
up, the locket feels alive.**_

_** Please reply quickly,  
Larisa**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

A short while later, Larisa was standing outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, in the back of the queue. Some people in the queue waiting to go into the room were talking, but Larisa remained silent. The door opened, and Snape stepped out.

"Inside." He said, and everyone walked forward. Larisa sat down in the back of the room next to Draco, and got her book out. The room was very dark and depressing, but Larisa kept her eyes staring straight at the front of the room. Snape then came sweeping back into the room. "I haven't asked you to get out your books." Larisa slid her book off of her desk hastily, and she slowly stopped focusing on what Snape was saying until he got into the explanation about the Dark Arts. "The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal." He began to explain. "Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster..."

"Or my parents." Larisa said under her breath.

"...Which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before..."

"Sophia's losing it." Larisa said under her breath, her eyes fixed on Snape.

"...You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."

"I can agree with that." Larisa added, still under her breath. Snape's eyes rested on her for a split second, and then he continued walking around the room.

"Your defenses must therefore be as flexible and inventive as that arts you seek to undo..."

"Firing off multiple jinxes at once..." Larisa said, still under her breath.

"These pictures give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse, feel the Dementor's Kiss, or provoke the aggression of the Inferius." Snape said, indicating several pictures on the wall. Larisa closed her eyes.

"Has an Inferius been seen then?" Parvati Patil asked.

"Voldemort used them in the past, so probably." Larisa said, opening her eyes. Several people gasped at the name, and Larisa rolled her eyes. "Fear of a name-"

"Thank you, Miss Rei." Snape said loudly, walking past her.

"You are most welcome." She said sarcastically.

"Now, I believe you are all complete novices at nonverbal spells. What is the advantage-" Snape began to ask, when Hermione and Larisa's hands shot into the air. "Larisa?"

"You opponent has no idea what you're going to do, so you have a fraction of a second of an advantage."

"Almost exactly the definition in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six._" Snape said.

"I've known that." Larisa said shortly.

"You will now divide into pairs and practice nonverbal spells. One will attempt to jinx the other nonverbally, and the other will attempt to repel the jinx, also nonverbally. Go." Snape said, completely ignoring what Larisa just said. Eyes glittering for a second, Larisa got up from her seat.

Nonverbal spells weren't as easy as they seemed, and only Hermione was able to repel Neville's muttered jinx in complete silence. For Larisa, either Draco was struggling, or he was unwilling to jinx her. Finally, Larisa lowered her wand.

"If you want, I can do the jinxing." She said shortly.

"Good plan..." Draco muttered, and Larisa rose her wand. She shut her eyes, concentrating.

_**I**__**mpedimenta!**_ She said loudly in her mind. There was a crash, and her eyes flew open. Draco was still standing, but he had turned around and was staring at Snape, who was getting to his feet. With a flick of his wand, the desks he had knocked over were put straight, and then he turned around. His eyes were glittering dangerously, and he glared at Larisa.

"I think your aim is off..." Draco murmured. Larisa put a look of innocence on her face as Snape came sweeping over.

"I don't know whether to be mad or not."

"I'd choose the 'not', if I were you." Larisa said conversationally.

"Five points from Slytherin for your cheek."

"Burn." A Gryffindor murmured.

"Five points to Slytherin for successfully using a nonverbal spell."

"Why take points in the first place, then?" Larisa asked. Snape chose not to answer, and walked away. Larisa shrugged, then started to gather her books up.

**&%$&%$&%$**

Later in the day, Larisa and Draco made their way to the Potions room. Larisa was racking her memory still; she had heard the name 'Slughorn' somewhere before, she just couldn't remember. As they entered the room, Larisa smelled the scent of dust, a scent that was common at Lestrange Manor. She couldn't see any dust in the room, however.

"Crabbe and Goyle fail their Potions OWL?" Larisa asked as she sat down.

"Looks like it." A slightly familiar voice said, and a tall, thin Slytherin boy sat down across from Larisa.

"Hello, Nott." Larisa said, and she began to get out her book as to avoid talking to him. She had been informed at some point over the summer that Nott had a small crush on her...

"How was your summer?" He asked. Larisa rolled her eyes.

"Bloody awful." She replied shortly. Absentmindedly, she touched the locket. It was still freezing cold, and there was still the haunting feeling of it being alive. Zabini then came over and sat down next to Nott, nodding at Larisa and Draco.

"I'm sorry about that." Nott said, when the door opened and Slughorn came in, sparing Larisa from further conversation. He greeted Larisa, Zabini, and Harry enthusiastically, and after Harry explained about him and Ron needing their supplies and Slughorn handing them to them, he turned to face the class.

"Now then, I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest. They are the kind of things you ought to know how to make after you take your NEWTs. You should have heard of them, even if you haven't made them. Does anyone know what that one is?" Slughorn said, pointing at the cauldron near where Larisa was sitting. Her hand shot up into the air, beating Hermione's. Slughorn pointed at Larisa.

"It's Veritaserum, a potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth." She said. Larisa knew a lot about the potion, seeing that Umbridge threatened her with it earlier in the year.

"Very good! Now, what about this one?" Slughorn asked, nodding at a cauldron near the Ravenclaw table. Hermione's hand beat Larisa's this time, and Slughorn pointed at her.

"It's Polyjuice Potion, sir."

"Excellent! Now, this one here...Yes?" Slughorn pointed at Hermione, for her hand beat Larisa's again.

"It's Amortentia!" Hermione said, and Larisa sat up a little straighter.

"Correct. I assume you know what it does?" Slughorn asked.

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world."

"It is indeed. You recognized it by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals, and it's supposed to smell different to each of us, according to what attracts us, and I can smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and-" Hermione stopped and turned a little pink. Slughorn ignored this, and Larisa leaned forward a little, her eyes fixed on the cauldron. The smell of dust was fading slightly, and the smell of an oak tree began to replace it. That scent Larisa recognized from over the summer, from the tree that she liked to climb. A third scent then began to waft in, and Larisa recognized it straightaway as something she remembered smelling during the summers she spent at Malfoy Manor.

"May I ask your name?" Slughorn asked.

"Hermione Granger, sir." Hermione said.

"Granger? Granger? Could you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, founder of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?" Slughorn asked excitedly.

"I don't think so, sir. I'm muggleborn, you see." Hermione explained. Nott leaned over sideways to Draco.

"Mudblood, she means." He whispered.

"Do not use that word!" Larisa and Draco hissed at the same time. They looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes, and Larisa smiled a little as Slughorn gave Gryffindor twenty points. Nott looked as though something very heavy had just been dropped on his head.

"Amortentia doesn't really create _love_, of course. It's impossible to manufacture of imitate love. This will simply cause a powerful obsession. It's probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room. Yes, it is." Slughorn explained, nodding at Nott, who looked very skeptical. "When you have been around as long as I have, you won't underestimate the power of obsessive love...Now, we must start work."

"Sir, what is that potion?" A Hufflepuff asked, pointing a a cauldron on Slughorn's desk.

"Oh yes, that one. This is called Felix Felicis. I assume you know what it does, Miss Granger?" Hermione's hand had again shot into the air.

"It's liquid luck, and it makes you lucky!" She said excitedly. Draco sat up a little straighter, staring at the cauldron fixedly.

"Correct, another ten points to Gryffindor. It's a funny little potion, very tricky to make, disastrous to get wrong. If brewed correctly, though, like this one, all of your endeavors will succeed until the effects wear off."

"Why don't people drink it all the time, sir?" A Ravenclaw asked.

"Because it can be highly toxic in large quantities."

"Have you ever taken it, sir?" Another Ravenclaw asked.

"Twice in my life. Once when I was twenty-four, once when I was fifty-seven. Two tablespoons taken with breakfast. Two perfect days." Slughorn said dreamily. "That is what I will be offering as a prize in this lesson." The whole class straightened up, staring at Slughorn. "One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis. Enough for twelve hours luck, from dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in everything you attempt. I must warn you, though, Felix Felicis is banned in organized competitions, sporting events, for example, or examinations, or elections. So, the winner may use it on an ordinary day only. So, how to win my fabulous prize? Well, turn to page ten of _Advanced Potion Making_. We have a little over an hour left, which is enough time for you to make a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. The person who does best will win little Felix here." Slughorn explained, taking out a small bottle of a golden potion. "Off you go!"

Larisa pulled her cauldron over to her, then pulled her ingredient kit over while turning to page ten. Draco had already gotten started on chopping up his valerian roots, clearly showing that he wanted that potion. Larisa worked in silence, her normally straight, flat hair become very bushy as the fumes rose up out of the cauldron. The potion was now a smooth, black-currant colored liquid, and according to the book, that was the halfway mark. Larisa moved on to cutting up the sopophorous bean, which was proving very difficult. Slughorn was coming over to the Slytherin table, and Larisa stabbed at her sopophorous bean, causing it to shoot across the room. Luckily, Slughorn reached up and caught it.

"Damn it..." She hissed, when Slughorn came up to her and handed it back to her. "Thanks." Larisa then returned to trying to cut it.

"Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I was sorry to hear he had died, although of course it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age..." Slughorn replied before walking away. Draco's face was much like the time Larisa told him to shut up two years ago. He returned to his work, and Larisa continued trying to chop her sopophorous bean up. In frustration, she tried to crush the bean.

It worked. It spit out a large amount of juice, a small amount squirting onto Larisa's face.

"Ugh..." She said, pulling out her handkerchief and wiping her face off. She scooped the juice into her cauldron, and it turned the exact shade of lilac it should be. Quickly, she began to stir counterclockwise as the book said. Despite her efforts, the potion very slowly started to turn clear. Irritated, she looked around the dungeon. Harry seemed to be doing very well, and Larisa watched closely. She saw that after every seventh counterclockwise stir, he added a single clockwise stir. Very carefully, Larisa began to stir her potion. After seven stirs, she added a clockwise stir. Instantly, her potion shot to a very pale pink color. She continued doing this, but was unable to finish in time.

"Time's up! Stop stirring, please!" Slughorn called. He walked among the students, giving Larisa's potion an approving nod. Harry, however, won the bottle of Felix Felicis. Slightly irritated, Larisa began to pack up.

"I'll meet you in the Room of Requirement," She hissed to Draco through the noise of everyone gathering their things up. "I need to go mail a letter and give my hair a shot of Sleekeazy's."

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**I think we all know what the third thing Larisa smelled is. :D**

**And what about that locket, eh?  
**

**(Read&Review)  
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	7. The Room of Hidden Things

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Seven: The Room of Hidden Things~*~*~**

After applying a large amount of Sleekeazy's to her hair, Larisa hurried off to the Owlrey to mail her letter to Karina. She opened the door to the Owlrey, looking around for Claire. When she spotted Claire, she hurried over.

"Claire, you need to take this to Karina. Quickly, too." Larisa said, holding out the letter. Claire gave a loud hoot and took the rolled up parchment in her beak before taking flight. Larisa watched her disappear over the horizon before turning around and hurrying out of the room. Only one thing remained in her mind as she left, and that was her remembering where she needed to go.

_**Seventh floor corridor, opposite the tapestry of **__**Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls. Small blonde first year Hufflepuff girl with brass scales standing guard.**_She repeated over and over in her head. The locket was still as cold as ever, perhaps even colder right now as Larisa rounded the corner, arriving at the hallway. There, standing next to where the entrance to the Room of Requirement would be, was a very small first year Hufflepuff girl with blonde hair and brass scales. She looked up at Larisa, gave an approving nod, and kicked the space where the door should be. _**I need to get inside the Room of Hidden Things.**_ Larisa thought, closing her eyes. When she opened them, an old wooden door had appeared on the wall.

"Excellent." Larisa murmured. She looked left and right before walking over to the door, opening it, and entering the room. She closed the door behind her, then looked all around the room. It was the size of a cathedral, and there were many things all around the room, stacked very high up, forming walls and towers bordering what seemed to be like roads and alleyways. Larisa felt her jaw drop open, and she took a step forward, awestruck. She completely forgot what she was really in the room for at the moment, and she started to wander around a little. She arrived at a cabinet that looked as though it had had acid thrown at it, and next to it, on a pile of books, there was a diadem. Curious, Larisa reached out and picked it up.

It was freezing cold, much like the locket that Larisa was wearing. It glimmered feebly, and Larisa blew the dust off of it. There was a very odd feeling that the diadem itself was alive, also like the locket. However, the feeling was much stronger on the diadem than the locket, which, at that moment, gave a small twitch. The diadem felt even colder as the locket twitched, and it vibrated slightly, as if it was trying to intimidate an attacker. The locket gave a very violent twitch towards the diadem, which seemed to try to jump out of Larisa's hands, and Larisa dropped the diadem in shock. It fell with a loud clatter, but instead of shattering, it caused the thing it fell on to break. Larisa jumped backwards, and she smashed into someone, who grabbed her shoulders to steady her. Larisa's heart skipped several beats, and she jumped forwards, turned around, and drew her wand, but lowered it as suddenly as she rose it.

"Good God, Draco, you nearly gave me a heart attack..." She gasped, rubbing her forehead and tucking her wand back into her pocket.

"Sorry." Draco said, giving her a concerned look.

"It's fine...Just prod me on the shoulder or something...Don't just stand there and wait for me to crash into you." Larisa said as her heart rate returned to normal. She and Draco stood staring at each other for a minute, before Larisa spoke again. "Well...The Vanishing Cabinet...We should start working on it..."

"Right...Right..." Draco said, turning around. Larisa would have given all the gold in her Gringotts vault to know what he had been thinking at the moment, but there were more important matters currently. She walked over to the Vanishing Cabinet, which was badly smashed up. Setting a hand on one of the mangled doors, she started to think about what could be done to mend it.

"We should test it out first and see if it's still working..." Larisa said after a few minutes. She turned around, looking for something to put into the cabinet. Twice, her eyes passed over the diadem, but she chose not to send it through. Near the diadem, Larisa spotted an empty sherry bottle. She moved towards it, when the locket twitched. Larisa took a step backwards, and removed the locket. She set it down on the floor, but the moment it left her hand, there was a strange feeling in her throat. Ignoring this, Larisa hurried over to the sherry bottle and picked it up before walking back to the Vanishing Cabinet. She held it out to Draco, who took it and cast Larisa a worried look. With shaking hands, Larisa picked up the locket, which was as cold as ice. She slipped it over her head, and she seemed to cheer up a little.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked.

"I swear, I think this thing is possessed..." Larisa muttered, tracing the chain of the locket. Draco opened the door to the cabinet and set the sherry bottle inside. Carefully, he closed the door and murmured something that was inaudible to Larisa. There was silence, and then the sound of breaking glass from inside the cabinet.

"I don't think that's good..." Draco muttered, pulling open the door.

"Yeah...I don't think so either." Larisa said with a small hint of hysteria as she swept the broken glass out of the cabinet, cutting her hand. "Yowch!" Larisa quickly withdrew her hand, holding it very tightly and muttering a few nasty swear words. Slowly, she elevated her hand, trying not to look at it. Cuts on her hand brought about certain memories of Umbridge forcing her to write '_I must not use Dark Magic_' with a pointed black quill that sliced her left hand open and caused her to pass out.

"Here...Let me see your hand." Draco said, and Larisa lowered her hand so Draco could take a look at it. Carefully, he examined the cut before pulling out his wand. "_Episkey_." He murmured. Larisa's hand went very hot, and then it went very cold. She twisted her hand around a little, examining it. After that, she looked up at Draco.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Draco said before pointing his wand at the glass shards. They vanished on the spot. "I don't think we should test this thing out on glass bottles anymore..."

"Good idea." Larisa murmured. Involuntarily, her eyes traveled over to the diadem, and the locket twitched. "There's something about that diadem that unsettles me..."

"It looks normal..." Draco said, also staring at the diadem.

"Looks can be deceiving." Larisa pointed out, suddenly remembering that Karina looked to be very old, but she was extremely powerful. "You didn't hold that thing. It's colder than my locket, and it feels alive...More alive than my locket."

"That's kind of odd." Draco said. "Well, we should move it away from here."

"You can, I'm not getting anywhere near that thing. This half-strangles me whenever I get near it." Larisa said, pulling at the chain of her locket. Draco shrugged then walked over to the diadem. He picked it up off of the ground, then set it inside the cabinet that looked as though acid had been thrown at it. Instantly, the room seemed to warm up, and it brightened a little. Draco grabbed a book, then came back over.

"You're right, that thing is colder than ice..." Draco murmured as he set the book inside the Vanishing Cabinet. He closed the door, murmured something that was still inaudible to Larisa, and then there was the sound of something vanishing with a pop. Draco then opened the door to the cabinet, revealing that it was empty.

"Alright, it can get things out...What about getting them back?" Larisa whispered.

"I don't know that yet..." Draco whispered back.

"Oh." Larisa whispered.

"Why are we whispering?"

"I don't know...Dramatic effect?" Larisa suggested, and Draco gave a snort of laughter. He closed the cabinet door, and again muttered something inaudible. There was no sound from inside the cabinet, and Draco muttered the incantation again. There was a feeble popping noise from inside, and he opened the door again. Only a single piece of paper was inside, and it appeared to be a title page that was covered in what looked an awful lot like blood.

"Damn." Draco murmured.

"Well, it's still one of the early attempts..." Larisa said in a shaky voice. "We'll be able to fix it."

"I don't know..." Draco said, sounding a little hysterical. "I have two backup plans in case this doesn't work...But if all three fail-"

"Don't think that. Just don't." Larisa said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "You're not going to fail." As soon as Larisa said that, she thought of the Unbreakable Vow. As long as it wasn't broken, the mission would be successful. "You work on fixing the cabinet itself, and I'll...I'll go find something else to test." Draco nodded, and Larisa took a few steps backwards before turning around and walking into the huge amount of junk. There were several old Fanged Frisbees hovering around low to the ground, and there was a glint of gold high up in the air. Larisa sidestepped as to avoid a large, tottering pile of books, and was nearly hit in the ankle by a Fanged Frisbee. She turned a corner, and walked straight into a three foot high stack of boxes. The boxes toppled over just as Larisa swore and rubbed her kneecap, spilling their contents out all over the floor. With a wonderful thrill, Larisa spotted an ink-splattered piece of paper among the rolls of parchment. A piece of paper that looked as though it had been torn right out of a book.

A book written in Russian.

Very carefully, Larisa reached out and grabbed the piece of paper, gently tugging it away from the rest of the parchment. She held it up to eye level, only to see that someone had underlined some letters and had boxed others, occasionally blotting something out. Larisa pocketed the sheet, promising herself that she would look at it later. Next, she bent over all of the parchment bits that had also fallen out of the box. She began to put them back into the first box, when she spotted a small, pocket-sized, leather-bound book among the parchment. Curious, she picked it up and opened the front cover. She nearly dropped the book as she read what had been written there in extremely familiar handwriting.

_**This diary belongs to Sophia E. Irli**_

There was the same wonderful thrill that Larisa had felt when she spotted the paper that had be so obviously torn out of the cursed book she had, and she stuffed the book into her pocket. Larisa then began to stuff the parchment back into the boxes, occasionally pausing to read something on a piece of parchment or to look at a picture that had been drawn. Mainly, the parchment was just old class notes that went as far back as the early 1900s. Larisa spotted several names that had descendants at Hogwarts that very day, and finally, all of the parchment had been cleaned up. Larisa stacked the boxes back up, then grabbed an old book (Which chose to let out a small whimper at that moment.), turned, and hurried back over to the Vanishing Cabinet. On her way over, she passed a large mirror with gold framing, again nearly got hit by a Fanged Frisbee, and the locket twitched as she passed the place where the diadem was hidden. The Vanishing Cabinet looked a little better, but it was still battered and looking worse for wear.

"There you are! I thought you had probably gotten lost!" Draco said as Larisa came over holding the book.

"No, but my knack for attracting unusual objects kicked in." Larisa explained.

"Oh no...What did you find this time?"

"A page that's missing from that cursed book I have, and my mum's diary." Larisa said, pushing her bangs so that they were tucked behind her ear. "Knocked over several boxes by mistake, that's how I found them."

"I see...You've got a smudge of dust on your face." Draco said, and he reached over and rubbed at a spot on Larisa's cheek.

"Oh...Thanks." Larisa said, and she handed him the book she had grabbed. Draco opened the door to the Vanishing Cabinet and set the book inside before closing the door. Larisa crossed her fingers as Draco murmured something, and then there was the sound of something vanishing with a faint popping noise. Draco opened the cabinet doors and looked inside.

"Cross your fingers." He said as he closed the doors and murmured the incantation again. There was a faint pop inside the cabinet, and he opened the doors. Larisa peered inside, and much to her dismay, only the cover of the book had returned.

"Well..." She said, trying to smooth the moment over. "At least it's more than last time, right?"

"Right." Draco said, but he sounded a little disappointed. Larisa didn't blame him, she was disappointed, as well. Absently, she looked down at her watch.

"Woah...We better hurry, dinner's going to start soon. After dinner we should try to get Snape's homework finished before two o'clock in the morning." She said, slightly shocked. "How are we going to get out of here?"

"How about you go first, and I'll wait five minutes, then I'll head down to the Great Hall?" Draco suggested. Larisa nodded in agreement, then turned and made her way towards the door.

* * *

**Now, does the mirror Larisa passed sound familiar?**

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**


	8. Diary Entries

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**

**~*~*~Chapter Eight: Diary Entries~*~*~**

Larisa had finished her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework in record time, leaving her time to go through Sophia's childhood diary. She sat down on her bed, holding the small, leather-bound book, and she was about to open it, when a thought occurred to her. Quickly, she set it down on her pillow, then grabbed her wand and pointed it at the book.

"_Specialis Revelio!_" She cried. The book remained quite still, and Larisa decided it was safe to open. She lay down on her stomach and opened the cover, then turned to the first page and began to read.

**&%$&%$&%$**

**_September 1__st__, 1969_**

_**Dear Diary,**_

_** Starting this to have someone to talk to...sort of. You're only a book. Well, let me tell you a little about myself...On second thought, it's better you didn't know about me...Oh, I must be going nuts, thinking that you can understand me. To tell the truth, nobody can understand me, not even that darn Sorting Hat...You don't know who/what that is, but I'm going to assume you do, because you're a book. Books are all-knowing. Except in my case. You'd never understand me, never. Even if you could talk, walk, think...Nope. Well, I'm going to get to the point; you're only being written in so I can vent some of my frustrations.**_

_** Today I got to Hogwarts, and mum wasn't kidding, it's pretty cool. My parents told me I have to be in Slytherin, because my whole family has been in Slytherin, except for the ten Squibs that have been in the Irli line. Dad told me what happened to each one of them; the first two were forbidden from marrying, the next two died of dragon pox, the next four were forbidden from marrying, as well, and the last two...The last two were my sisters, Helena and Sienna. They died when I was eight. I had gone into a nasty rage that made some magic explode out of me and blow the whole sitting room apart, and I accidentally killed them both. I still cry about it, because they were my best friends. Mum and Dad didn't care, though, because they were Squibs. I sometimes find it difficult to get up in the morning, because I always hope that the whole ordeal was just a nasty nightmare.**_

_** Anyway, my name was called, and I walked up and put the Sorting Hat on my head. Can you believe the darn thing wanted to put me in RAVENCLAW? It's an outrage! I, Sophia Emese Irli, a member of an all-Slytherin family, in RAVENCLAW? I hope Mum and Dad don't find out...That would be very bad. VERY bad.**_

_** After my Sorting (I got into Slytherin, thank God...), I met these two sisters who were also from an all-Slytherin family. One of them, Bellatrix, is in her seventh year, and the other, Narcissa, is in her third year. They've got another sister, Andromeda, who's in her fifth year. Andromeda wasn't with them at the time, though. She was way up at the end of the table, close to the doors leading into the Entrance Hall. Bellatrix was kind of odd, she didn't talk much. She talked to me for a little bit, then she talked to Narcissa for a bit, and then she sat there for the rest of the feast looking sulky. Narcissa told me it's because she's missing a 'certain someone' who left Hogwarts already.**_

_** I didn't tell her that I miss my sisters, and that I was jealous of her because she still had her sisters. After dinner as I was heading to the common room, I met this second year boy named Borislav. He was very polite, but he seems to be a little obsessed with the Dark Arts...**_

_** I'm going to bed now. I will write more later.**_

_** Sophia**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa set the book down and rubbed her eyes before picking it up again and reading it more closely. It seemed absolutely impossible to comprehend the fact that Sophia was almost put into Ravenclaw, that Sophia seemed almost human at the age of eleven. Larisa had a feeling that she knew who the 'certain someone' Bellatrix was missing was. It seemed that Sophia had been a very nice person. A very nice person who went bad to keep from going insane, only to drop deeper into insanity in order to fulfill a dream that would never come true...

The part in the end about Borislav disturbed Larisa a little. Sophia didn't seem to like him at all, and Larisa wondered how they ended up married. Suddenly, Larisa remembered a trip into a memory of Sophia's. A memory of an argument with Bellatrix...

_**"Why exactly would the Dark Lord put the Cruciatus Curse on Borislav?" Sophia asked, trying to stay calm.**_

_**"You probably know very well why! Just look at your right hand!" Bellatrix snarled, trying to keep her tone level. Sophia looked extremely offended, and Larisa looked at her mother's right hand. There was a diamond ring on her ring finger.**_

_**"It's an arranged marriage, Bellatrix. Unl-" Sophia began, when Bellatrix cut across her.**_

_**"My marriage was arranged too, Sophia. And I was nineteen when I got married, too, so shut up. You're not better than me. We're equal." Bellatrix hissed.**_**  
**

"Arranged marriage, that's it..." Larisa said to herself, turning the page to the next entry.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**September 13th, 1969**_

_**Dear Diary,  
Eventful few days. I already had detention for trying to hex Emmeline Vance. McGonagall wouldn't listen to me, even though I told her I was only playing around. Well, I ended up helping Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest with Borislav and Wilkes. Apparently Borislav wants to become a Death Eater when he leaves Hogwarts, mainly because it's expected of him. He told me his parents were followers of Gellert Grindelwald, obviously in an attempt to impress me. Well, my parents were followers of Grindelwald, as well. They talked their way out of prison, mum was always good at talking her way out of things. She once told me that Professor Dippet told her that that ability would get her into trouble some day...Dad was pretty good with dueling, and he told me that in his first year, Professor Scamander said he expected him to do great things. (Dad and Mum are five years apart. Mum was born in 1916, Dad in 1911.) Sadly, my parents haven't turned out right...They're both old, bad-tempered people. Borislav obviously pretended to understand, said his parents were also surly people. He has an older sister, but they don't get along well. She told Borislav to open his eyes and realize that mudbloods are just as magical as purebloods, and he's sworn to set her straight someday.**_

_**Borislav Rei seems unable to understand that I see him as a git. Like the Rei line is older than the Irli line! I could care less, though. My parents were only worried about my sisters being Squibs. Idiots. There's nothing wrong with Squibs being in the family.**_

_**I think...  
Sophia**_**  
**

**&%$&%$&%$  
**

Larisa arched an eyebrow as she read the entry over again. Sophia sounded a little bit like Larisa; confused, upset, and seeing someone they loved as a git in the beginning. Larisa, however, would never just hex someone for the fun of it, unless it was someone she really hated, like Voldemort or Parkinson.

Larisa closed her eyes and shook her head before turning the page to the next entry.**  
**

**&%$&%$&%$**

**_October 4__th__, 1969_**

**_Dear Diary,  
Again, I got detention. This time it was because I practiced my Hover Charm on Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat. Honestly, the caretaker, Mr. Filch, cares more about that cat than the students. Then again, he is a Squib, so he'd probably feel jealous of the students...Either way, he gave me detention, and I had to go work in the Forbidden Forest again. Borislav got detention again, so he was there, too. Bellatrix was also there because she got smart mouthed with McGonagall, and she was pretty sulky the whole time. I asked her what was wrong, and she called me a git and told me to get lost. How rude._**

**_While in the forest, I had a talk with Borislav. He told me his plans to find the Dark Lord and join the Death Eaters the moment he leaves school. He also spent the whole time saying how muggles, Squibs, and mudbloods need to be put in their place. It took every ounce of my self control to keep from putting the Cruciatus Curse on him. I even threatened him with it, at that. I didn't tell him about my sisters, though. Everyone here at Hogwarts is under the assumption that I'm an only child, and I always have been. Sadly, they're wrong. I'm an only child, oh yes, but I've only been an only child for three (almost four) years. Halfway through my disscussion with Borislav, Bellatrix came over and asked what idiot would want to willingly join the Death Eaters. Borislav just shot her this look of deep disgust, and the look Bellatrix gave him was very funny. When she walked away, Borislav told me that she needed a good shot of Sleekeazy's, and I had to agree. Bellatrix's hair is pretty wild. Our hair color is exactly the same, but I obviously keep mine nice looking and straight, instead of it being so curly that you would get dizzy by just looking at it. Bellatrix's other younger sister, Andromeda, also has extremely curly hair, but it's brown and less curly. Narcissa is the only one with straight, normal hair._**

**_I hope Bellatrix doesn't find this, she looks like the type of person who could kill me without blinking.  
Sophia  
_**

**&%$&%$&%$  
**

Larisa felt like laughing at the last line, but she felt highly resentful towards Sophia after reading this entry. So what if Bellatrix's hair was far from tame and under control? Larisa liked it the way it was. The fact that Sophia had threatened Borislav with the Cruciatus Curse haunted Larisa slightly for it was scary that a first year knew it, and could possibly perform it.

Larisa folded the corner of the page down and closed the book with a snap before grabbing her wand off of her nightstand and getting up. She knelt down onto the ground and reached under her bed, her fingers finding a box. There was a scraping noise and Larisa pulled a locked box with an interesting pattern carved onto it over to her, and she tapped the lock with her wand.

"_Alohomora__!_" She said, and the box swung open. The cursed book was on top of all of the various artifacts Larisa had crammed into the box, and Larisa pulled it out, also pulling the missing page out of her pocket. She turned to where the page should have been in the cursed book, and set said page in it's place before setting the tip of her wand on top of it. "_Reparo!_" Instantly, the edge of the page grabbed the binding of the book and resealed itself. The book shuddered and gave a low moan, and Larisa had a look of savage triumph on her face before she stuffed the cursed book and Sophia's diary back into the box. The lid swung shut, and the lock clicked. Larisa shoved the box back under her bed, slightly haunted about Sophia's diary, and also shocked and amused. The idea of Sophia nearly being a Ravenclaw was nearly impossible to grasp, as was the idea of Sophia not being as cruel as she was today. Suddenly very tired, Larisa set her wand on her nightstand and pulled the locket off. As soon as it left her hand, though, Larisa felt slightly hysterical, shocked, and sad. There had to be an explanation to why she felt this way whenever she took the locket off.

_**Hopefully Karina's reply will be here soon.**_ She thought miserably.

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**:O**

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**


	9. The Mirror and Ring

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**

**~*~*~Chapter Nine: The Mirror and Ring~*~*~**

Two weeks later, little progress had been made on the Vanishing Cabinet. Sometimes Draco and Larisa were able to send a book through and get a large amount of it back, and sometimes a book wouldn't go through at all. Larisa had taken to keeping any broken quills she could find so they had something else to test other than books or pieces of parchment, which were really the only safe things for them to get near without the threat of it trying to spring up and attack. There was also the heavy workload that had been brought on from lessons, adding to Larisa's already dangerous level of stress. Whenever Larisa went looking for a book in the room to test, something gold would fly past her ear a few feet, then suddenly change direction and shoot higher into the air. Also, there were a large number of empty sherry bottles that kept appearing (After the incident where Larisa cut her hand on a broken one when she and Draco tested it out on the Vanishing Cabinet, they had not used them again.).

"Borgin better pay us for those books we don't manage to get back." Larisa murmured as she entered the Great Hall two weeks after term began. It was a dreary Saturday morning, and there was a light drizzle. Larisa cast a quick glance over at the Hufflepuff table before walking over to the Slytherin table. "It's a shame about Hannah Abbott..."

"I know. One can only imagine what she's going through..." Draco said. "I wonder who killed her mother?"

"Possibly my parents." Larisa said darkly. "They'd love to cause another person pain that's worse than the Cruciatus Curse..." Just then, several post owls came flying into the Great Hall. Claire came swooping down to Larisa, holding three letters. At long last, Larisa had received a reply from Karina. She guessed that the second letter was from Bellatrix, but she had no idea who the third letter was from. Claire landed in front of Larisa and dropped two of the letters before turning around and dropping the third in front of Draco. Claire ruffled her feathers importantly and took off, and Larisa lifted up the first of the two letters. It was from Karina. "Finally!" Larisa cried as she tore the envelope open and pulled the letter out.

"What?"

"Karina finally replied...It's been two weeks...Normally it's only a few hours before she replies." Larisa said.

"Is she in the Order?" Draco asked, casting a shifty glance around the table.

"I'm pretty sure she is. She showed up in the Department of Mysteries and knocked my dad out in one shot...He yelled 'Like you can defeat me!' and then she got him with a pretty nice Stunning Spell." Larisa explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Maybe that's why she didn't reply so quickly. She's probably doing something for the Order...Stalking Death Eaters, guarding something..." Draco said. Larisa shrugged, then unfolded the letter.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**Dear Larisa,**_

_** I'm so sorry about your old headmaster! I too have a feeling that it's your father who killed him. Your father was always the 'shoot first, ask questions later' type of person. He'd also jump at the chance to murder anyone you care about. He seems to forget just how powerful you are, and he doesn't know that you have the Twin of the Elder Wand. Please keep that information secret, however. Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort himself would kill to get a wand like that.**_

_** Now, about that locket. It seems that it's possibly full of Dark Magic, or there is the possibility that it is an object that is inhabited by a spirit that wishes to protect the locket's owner. The possibility of it being the latter is far greater than it being the former. However, the locket's properties remind me of a Horcrux. The alive feeling really gives it away, but if the feeling is not too strong, then there is no possibility of it being a Horcrux. I'm sure that by now you are probably thinking 'what the bloody hell is a Horcrux?'. I never wanted you to know, but right now, during these times, you must know.**_

_** A Horcrux is an object where a practitioner of Dark Magic hides a fragment of their soul. As long as you have a Horcrux that is not destroyed, you cannot die. They influence people who are holding them, and they feel ice cold and very much alive. Herpo the Foul made the first Horcrux, yet I believe it was destroyed. I'm not telling you how a Horcrux is made, in case someone is able to lift the enchantments I have placed on this letter.**_

_** Your locket comes from a family of Dark Wizards and Witches, so there is a possibility of it being a Horcrux. The Irli family terrorized the Wizarding World of Russia for thousands of years, and I know for a fact that one of your ancestors defeated **__**Egbert the Egregious **__**in a very nasty duel and took the Elder Wand. Another one of your ancestors from the Rei line also got the Elder Wand at one point after defeating **__**Hereward Godelot **__**in a duel. The both of us are the first good witches in our families for over a hundred years, I think. Please keep it that way.**_

_** If you must know for sure if your locket it a **__**Horcrux or not, I'd suggest trying **__**Scarpin's Revelaspell (**__**Specialis Revelio), but if that doesn't work, I'd suggest keeping the locket off for a while. I know you're growing attached to the thing, mainly because it keeps you out of depression, sadness, and anger. You need to remember that hurting makes a human stronger, and you shouldn't try to duck out of it, because it won't work. Pick a day where you don't have to focus on something, and keep the locket off. Keeping the locket on to prevent grief will only make the sadness more powerful when you do, in fact, take it off.**_

_** Keep my warning in mind, and reply soon.**_

_** Love,**_

_** Karina**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Sighing, Larisa folded the letter up and slid it into her pocket.

"Something wrong?" Draco asked.

"No, it's just that I've just been reminded of a certain something regarding my power and how a certain someone would kill to get that certain object." Larisa said as she picked up the second letter. "And if Karina told Bella about this locket's properties and how it's influencing my emotions, I'm dead." She added as she read the envelope and saw it was from Bellatrix.

"Bellatrix wouldn't kill you. She'd probably just go berserk-" Draco said as Larisa tore open the envelope.

"-which is a fate worse than death, thank you very much." Larisa said, but she couldn't help but laugh a little before reading the letter.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**Dear Larisa,**_

_** You haven't written to me just yet, and I was getting worried. I haven't been able to write you, either, because Cissy's going absolutely nuts. She's still upset about Lucius, she's worried sick about you and Draco, and to top it all of, her place was raided by the Ministry again. They were acting on a confidential tip-off, but they didn't find anything. Said person who tipped them off overheard something at Borgin and Burkes, and I have a very shrewd idea who.**_

_** Don't give the parchment such a look of horror. People will stare. Yes, I know you and Draco slipped off to Borgin and Burkes, where else would you have gotten that locket? I know you more than you think, Larisa. Don't worry, I won't tell Cissy where you went. She'll find out soon enough on her own, anyway.**_

_** Now then, Karina wrote to me about your locket. DO NOT SHOUT "I KNEW IT!". People will stare. Now, I do not believe that your locket is a Horcrux, because Borgin would never have bought it. However, I don't like the idea of it controlling your emotions one bit. I will tell you this now; do not get too attached to the thing. Take a day where you don't have anything to do, and keep it off.**_

_** I have also heard that Professor Slughorn is back at Hogwarts! Tell him that Bellatrix says hello, please, and that I'm not a crazy Death Eater (Stupid Imperius Curse...).**_

_** Love,**_

_** Bella**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

"Is she going berserk?" Draco asked as Larisa folded the letter and put it in her pocket.

"No, but she knows me too well...Far too well." Larisa said darkly. "She figured out that we went to Borgin and Burkes, but she's not telling your mum. An enraged Narcissa Malfoy is the last thing this world needs."

"Agreed." Draco said, picking up his own letter and reading the envelope. "You sure Bellatrix didn't tell my mum about Borgin and Burkes?"

"Very." Larisa replied. "Why?"

"Because I have a letter from my mum..."

"Er...There's something she needs to tell you." Larisa mumbled. She refused to be the one to tell Draco about the fact that the Malfoy Manor was raided again. Draco cast her a suspicious glance before tearing open the envelope and pulling out the letter, leaving Larisa free to think.

** _Potter must have heard everything..._ She thought, furrowing her eyebrows. _Or Weasley...Possibly Hermione...No, Potter. He'd do something like that, report something suspicious. I mean, he was just outside under that cloak of his. He also already knows that I'm a Death Eater, and-_**

"I don't believe it..." Draco said, rereading the letter. "They raided my house _again_?"

"That's what Bella told me. Confidential tip-off, and she has a very shrewd idea on who tipped them off..." Larisa said, still in a very dark tone. Draco's eyes immediately rested on a person over at the Gryffindor table. Said person happened to be Harry. "Don't go storming over to him, Draco, we don't have any proof that it even was him...You don't want to cause a scene." Larisa said quickly, her hand coming down on Draco's wrist. "Plus, there's the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts today, and they need their captain for that." Draco continued to glare at where Harry was, and Larisa sighed. "Save it for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Draco." She hissed, and he turned to look at her.

"I remember telling you that back in our fourth year for the same exact thing." He said, and Larisa smiled a little.

"I remember that." She said quietly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Pansy Parkinson scowling at them. Larisa fought the temptation to laugh, and returned to her breakfast. "Homework this morning, and then the Vanishing Cabinet?"

"Right." Draco said, also returning to his breakfast. "I'm going to need some help with Transfiguration."

"No problem." Larisa said. A short while later, they got up to head down to the common room to work on homework. They had just crossed the threshold into the Entrance Hall, when Professor Slughorn came puffing up to Larisa.

"Ah, Miss Rei, a quick word?" He asked.

"Um..." Larisa began to say. Slughorn took it as a yes.

"Wonderful. Listen, I'm hosting a small dinner in my office this evening. Zabini is coming, and hopefully Miss Granger and Mr. Potter, and McLaggen-" He said.

"The Gryffindor who was freaked out to see a Slytherin on speaking terms with Potter?" Larisa asked, glancing at her watch.

"Yes, that's the one! Oh, and Melinda Bobbin, her family owns a large chain of apothecaries, is also coming." Slughorn said excitedly. "So, will you come?"

Larisa almost didn't have the heart to refuse.

Almost.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I promised Draco I'd help him with his Transfiguration homework." She said. Slughorn's face fell rather quickly, and Larisa had to act fast. "I mean, I'd love to come, but I promised." Slughorn's face lit up a little bit afterwards.

"Ah, I see. I will tell you I'm disappointed that you aren't able to come, but hopefully you'll be able to attend another small party. Anyway, I will see you around." Without another word, Slughorn puffed away. Larisa turned to Draco.

"You didn't have to do that." He said.

"Well, I didn't want to go." Larisa said shortly. "McLaggen annoys me, and Zabini isn't very fun to talk to, seeing that he's a pureblood extremist who thinks he's above everyone else. Now, are we going to go finish that homework, or are we going to stand here and do nothing?" Draco gave a small snort of laughter.

"Yes, lets get back to the common room." He said, and they walked towards the passageway that lead down to the common room.

**&%$&%$&%$**

It was later in the evening, and Draco and Larisa were back in the Room of Requirement. Draco was working on the cabinet, and Larisa had wandered off to find a creepy book to send through the cabinet. After ducking a Fanged Frisbee that had paused mid-flight and took a dive at her head, Larisa found the stack of boxes she had knocked over two weeks ago. This place seemed to be the place where the creepiest books had been stashed, along with a bunch of empty sherry bottles. There was even one book that was taped shut with a large amount of Spello-tape, and the book was growling and shaking. Feeling slightly daring, Larisa walked over to it and picked it up. The book tried desperately to break free of it's bindings, and Larisa somehow managed to turn it so she could read the spine. It read _The Monster Book of Monsters_.

"Yikes..." Larisa murmured as the book gave a low growl. "Oh, shut up." Larisa turned on her heal, and, taking care not to send the boxes flying again, left the area she was in and made her way back towards the Vanishing Cabinet. Unfortunately, the Fanged Frisbee that she had narrowly avoided earlier swooped down at her and hit her right in the face, biting her on the cheek. Larisa yelped, and the Frisbee took off. With a murderous expression, she looked around the place she was in for something she could see her reflection in. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a large, gold-framed mirror. Still clutching the book, she plowed her way towards the mirror. When she arrived at it, she sat the book down and pulled out her wand, then stood up straight and looked in the mirror. She reached out and dusted it off, then set her wand tip on the bite mark.

_** Episkey!**_She said loudly in her mind. Her cheek grew very hot, then it grew very cold, and the bite mark vanished. As she lowered her hand, her eyes were torn from the reflection of her face to the reflection of the hand holding her wand. In the reflection, she thought she saw something glimmering on her ring finger. She brought her left hand back up and transferred her wand to her right hand. There was nothing on her left hand, but in the mirror, she clearly saw a ring on her finger.

A diamond engagement ring.

Larisa didn't quite know how to react, but she hiccuped in shock. The reflection was clearly defined now, and Larisa was a little shocked at her apperence.

Her skin was paler than normal (a feat that was hard to achieve.), and her hair seemed whiter than it normally was. The black streak was very sharply contrasting with the rest of her hair, and the three lines going down from under Larisa's left eye to her chin were a very light shade of pink. The slash over her right eye was a much darker shade of pink than the lines, and Larisa's eyes were both very cloudy and devoid of emotion. But there on her left hand ring finger was a diamond engagement ring, glimmering slightly. Larisa couldn't help but note that she looked as though she had just drowned. She thought for a minute that she was hallucinating, but in the mirror, the ring was on her hand. Outside of the mirror, there was no ring. She fixed her gaze on the ring, and a new question popped up in her mind.

** _Who would give me that ring in the first place?_**

Larisa had a very good idea of who.

* * *

**Larisa knows who. We all know who. Even if you don't, you do. **

**Trust me on this one.**

**I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR THREE DAYS.**

**(Read&Review)  
**


	10. Curse and Countercurse

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**

**~*~*~Chapter Ten: Curse and Countercurse~*~*~**

Larisa's mind kept flicking back to the strange mirror whenever she let it wander. No matter how much thinking she did, she couldn't figure anything out about the mirror. Worse yet, she couldn't ask or talk to anyone about it's powers, let alone what she had seen inside the mirror. It would be mildly embarrassing to talk to Draco about seeing herself wearing an engagement ring, and Bellatrix would go completely nuts if she found out that another supposedly Dark object had caught Larisa's attention and was influencing her mind. Dumbledore was out of the question, for he would possibly deduce what was going on and figure out about Draco's task. It was also a little embarrassing to go to Snape, and Larisa knew he'd tell Bellatrix everything Larisa said the minute she left his office. Larisa had an idea to write Karina, but Larisa didn't know any fancy enchantments to put on letters to prevent them from being read by anyone other than the sender and the receiver. The feeling of being trapped was growing, and not even the locket could stop it anymore.

To add to Larisa's already grim mood, progress on the Vanishing Cabinet seemed to be going backwards. Larisa could tell Draco was getting nervous, because he was getting very jumpy and shaky. He had also gotten detention for the first Hogsmeade trip because he missed two Transfiguration assignments. Larisa was somehow managing to keep up, but it was at a bad price, for now Larisa always had the look of a recently drowned person due to lack of sleep. She was amazed that she was even able to still handle the Quaffle without dropping it, her hands shook so bad.

It was about halfway through October, and the first Hogsmeade trip arrived.

"I'll see you afterwards." Larisa told Draco as she joined the line of students who were checking in with Filch.

"Wait, before you go," Draco said, reaching out and catching her wrist. "Check on Madam Rosmerta to see if the Imperius Curse is still holding, please?" He whispered so only Larisa could hear. Larisa felt a thrill of horror, but she nodded. "Thanks. Have fun." He released her wrist, then turned and started towards McGonagall's office. Larisa still had the feeling of horror, but she shuffled forwards. She knew that Draco had put Madam Rosmerta under the Imperius Curse, but for what, she had no idea. After Filch checked her with the Secrecy Sensor, she walked out of the building and into the howling wind and sleet. Almost at once, Larisa felt happier; the horrible cold reminded her of winters back at Durmstrang. She could hardly believe that it had only been about two years since she left the biting cold. This was nothing to her, and while other students were desperately trying to cover their faces, Larisa uncovered hers and set off at a brisk pace. It wasn't long until she reached the village, and she saw that Zonko's Joke Shop had been boarded up. She saw that Honeydukes Sweet Shop was still open, and she ducked inside, followed by three people.

"Thank God." Ron's voice said, and Larisa snapped around to stare at them while taking her hat off and cramming it into her pocket. Hermione took her hat off and nodded at Larisa.

"Hello, Hermione." Larisa said. "Lovely weather, isn't it?"

"I'm hoping that was sarcasm." Ron's muffled voice said.

"It's nothing compared to what we got at Durmstrang." Larisa said, shrugging. Ron opened his mouth, when Slughorn came over.

"Harry, m'boy!" He boomed, and Larisa groaned, quickly disguising it as a cough. Slughorn had taken no notice. "Harry, that's three of my little suppers you've missed! Same for you, Larisa!" Larisa had been wondering when she was going to get dragged into this. "It won't do, you two, I'm determined to get you both! Miss Granger loves them, don't you?"

"They're, uh..."

"So why don't you come along, Harry?"

"I've had Quidditch practice, Professor." Harry explained.

"And you, Miss Rei?" Slughorn asked.

"I've been helping Draco with his homework, still. NEWT classes, and all..." Larisa lied easily. She prayed that Slughorn would buy this lie. Indeed, he did, but Harry cast Larisa a suspicious glance.

"Well, how about Monday night, then?" Slughorn asked.

"I've got an appointment with Professor Dumbledore, sir." Harry said, still looking at Larisa suspiciously.

"I was planning on writing to my Aunt Karina-" Larisa began to say.

"_Oho_! Karina Rei, I presume?" Slughorn asked. Larisa nodded. "I remember teaching her, she was wonderful at Potions. Shame about her brother, your father, Borislav. He was very gifted." Slughorn said.

"I have been told so many times." Larisa said through gritted teeth.

"You're a bit like him. You're more like your mother, though. Well, you can't evade me forever!" With that, Slughorn left the shop, leaving Larisa standing there, a slightly appalled look on her face. Harry was still looking at her suspiciously, and Larisa began to mutter under her breath.

"There is no way at all that I'm like _them_." Larisa muttered in a slightly acidic tone. "Why are people always saying I'm a lot like those utter _psychopaths_?"

"Are you aware that we can hear what your saying?" Ron asked.

"Not really. I'm not right in the head currently." Larisa said, looking at her watch. Overall, it had been a very boring trip, and she was considering heading back up to the castle. Just a quick look into The Three Broomsticks to check if the Imperius Curse was holding on Madam Rosmerta, and then she'd head back up to the castle. "See you around."

"What's the rush?" Ron asked. Larisa sighed, slightly irritated.

"I need to get out of here before Nott finds me." She lied, looking around the shop. Along with wanting to go back up to the castle, she was in no mood to run into Nott, making it somewhat true. With a final nod at the three of them, Larisa ducked out of the shop, back into the wind. She didn't bother to put her hat back on, and she bowed her head against the wind as she plowed towards The Three Broomsticks. When she arrived, she pushed the door open, glad to be inside again. Shaking her long white hair out a little bit, she walked forwards a little, trying to catch Madam Rosmerta's eyes, just to check and see if they were oddly blank. However, her attempts were thwarted due to the fact that...

"Hello, Larisa."

"Hello, Nott." Larisa said, stunned as Nott came over to her. She would have given anything to escape, and was contemplating giving Nott a Galleon to get lost.

"Where's Malfoy?"

"Detention." Larisa said shortly as Harry, Ron, and Hermione came in. Harry was complaining loudly about something, and Hermione was trying to shush him.

"So you're all alone?" Nott asked, obviously trying to keep a conversation going with Larisa for more than sixty seconds.

"Yes. Sadly." Larisa said, still trying to catch Madam Rosmerta's eyes. She wasn't going to let anyone, especially Theodore Nott, stop her. Sadly, Madam Rosmerta, taking a package with her, vanished into the back.

"Then why did you even come to Hogsmeade?"

"I needed some air." Larisa lied. "You're here alone, aren't you?"

"Well...Yes." There was a long silence between the two. Larisa decided that it was time to take drastic action. "So..."

"Look, Nott, you're really nice and all, but I'm seeing someone else right now." Larisa explained, hoping that she had sounded nice about it.

"Oh." With that, Nott turned and walked away. It was at that moment that Madam Rosmerta entered the room from the back, and indeed, her eyes were oddly blank. The Imperius Curse had held. Following Madam Rosmerta was Katie Bell, the Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She held a package in her hand, and Larisa also saw her eyes were oddly blank. She and her friend then left, followed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Larisa lingered for a few minutes, then she followed. She bowed her head against the wind again, slightly nervous. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" Larisa looked up just in time to see Katie fly gracefully into the air, her arms spread out. Her hair was whipped around in the wind, and the scene momentarily froze. Larisa's hand twitched towards her wand, her eyes fixed on Katie. Suddenly, Katie's eyes flew open, and she let out a horrible scream. Her friend screamed as well, grabbing her ankles and trying to pull Katie back to the ground. Larisa ran forwards, drawing her wand as Katie fell from the air. Harry and Ron caught her, and Katie began to thrash about. They set her down on the ground, and Larisa nearly knocked Ron over as she knelt down at Katie's side.

"Stay there! I'm going for help!" Harry shouted, and he turned and ran up the lane. Katie's friend, Leanne, was sobbing hysterically, and Larisa managed to catch onto one of Katie's wrists. She was still screaming and thrashing, while Larisa's mind shot into a whirl. Holding tightly to Katie's wrist, Larisa pulled it up so she could get a look at it. There was a small hole in her glove, and Larisa held her wand and gave the hole a sharp jab. Katie's screams grew a little quieter, and Larisa remembered exactly what they did. Larisa began to trace Katie's hand with the tip of her wand, murmuring an incantation nonstop under her breath. Katie bean to fall still, and Larisa began tracing up her arm, still muttering the incantation. Leanne was still sobbing, but she was slowly growing calmer as Larisa began to trace Katie's other hand. Katie still screamed on, but Larisa shut that out and continued muttering the incantation. At last, Katie stopped thrashing. Larisa removed her wand tip and backed away, keeping her eyes on Katie, who was still screaming, yet she was perfectly still. Occasionally, one of Katie's fingers would twitch, giving Larisa some reassurance; she had been able to do the countercurse pretty well. The exact countercurse should have quieted her as well as keep her still, but Larisa didn't care about that bit, at least Katie was lying still. At long last, Harry returned, Hagrid following him.

"Get back! Lemme see her!" Hagrid shouted. He looked at Katie for a little bit, then picked her up and started to run back towards the castle. Ron was looking at the package, where an opal necklace was poking out, and he had his hand outstretched, when Larisa recognized the opal necklace.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" She shrieked hysterically, and Ron withdrew his hand very quickly as Larisa knelt down next to it, pulling her hat out of her pocket. She checked her gloves, then very carefully tore a piece of the wrappings off. Using the piece of the wrappings, and lifted the necklace up and dropped it into her hat, which she held away from her. Slowly, she got to her feet. Ron was telling something to Harry, who was looking at Larisa, slightly shocked. "W-we need to show this to Madam Pomfrey." Larisa then turned and hurried up the lane after Hermione and Leanne, who had just left.

"How did you do that?" Ron demanded.

"Old magic. We learned it at Durmstrang. I can't perform it very well, an experienced caster is able to completely stop the curse. I only slowed it's progress." Larisa said shortly. Her locket twitched towards the necklace, which shuddered slightly. "How did this get into Hogsmeade, I have no idea..."

"I think I know..." Harry said in a low voice.

"Oh?" Larisa asked, still walking forward. Her head was completely soaked from the snow and sleet, and the wind was whipping her hair about. Her locket was still twitching, causing the necklace that was in the bottom of Larisa's hat to twitch as well.

"I'd tell you, but you're too close to Malfoy." Harry said, and Larisa stopped in her tracks. The whole ordeal with the necklace suddenly seemed to make sense now. Larisa slowly turned around to face Harry, her eyes narrowed into slits.

"If you must know, Draco is in detention today, and I would never do something like this. He has no accomplices, and I suggest you push whatever little theory you are concocting out of your mind. Draco is not a Death Eater." She said shortly. Harry blinked, looking as though he had narrowly missed being struck by something very heavy.

"He could not be telling you about being a Death Eater-"

"It's hard to hide being a Death Eater. Trust me, I struggle to do so." Larisa said, still very shortly. She turned on her heal and began to continue walking back up to the school, still holding the opal necklace well away from her. The wind continued to howl, and Larisa was turning everything over in her mind.

"McGonagall!" Larisa heard Ron say, and she looked up to see Professor McGonagall hurrying down towards them.

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**NOTE FROM LIVELIFETOTHEFULLEST4E**:** Hello. Now then, for the next month or two, you may only get one chapter a week. This is due to the fact that I have sustained an injury to my hand. I am able to type things with my good hand, but only that hand. Therefor, it will take me longer to write the chapters. Chapter updates will speed up as soon as I recover, I promise. Thank you for your cooperation.**

**Please continue to read and review.  
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	11. Mysterious Past

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Eleven: Mysterious Past~*~*~**

After a long and tedious questioning by McGonagall, Larisa was free to go. Almost no time passed as she made her way down to the common room, and she wanted nothing more than to write to Karina. She muttered the password into the common room and yanked the door open, nearly crashing into a first year. Said first year quickly pushed his way past Larisa, leaving her to mutter dangerously under her breath. After a few seconds, she shook her still wet hair out and stormed towards her dorm. When she arrived, she extracted a quill, bottle of ink, and a roll of parchment from her bag and spread it out before pausing to think about what she'd write.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**Dear Karina,**_

_** Thanks for the advice on my locket. I'll pick a quiet day to keep it off.**_

_** Now, however, I have more pressing matters to talk about. I'm begging that you don't tell Bella, though. She'll flip out.**_

_** A few weeks ago, while I was in the Room of Requirement, I came across a mirror. It was a very strange mirror. I looked into it, and it showed me a strange image; me, but I was wearing an engagement ring. It was really confusing.**_

_** Today, a girl on the Gryffindor Quidditch team accidentally touched a cursed necklace. Her name was Katie Bell. She's going to be alright, though.**_

_** A side note; I found my mum's old diary in the Room of Requirement, as well. You never know what you'll find in there...I will admit that I've read the first three entries. I mean, I want to know where my mum came from, same for my dad.**_

_** Reply quickly,**_

_** Larisa**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Quickly, Larisa put everything away. Rolling up the parchment, she tucked it into her pocket and exited her dorm. She rearranged her scarf, which was still damp from the sleet, and set off for the Owlrey. The hallways were nearly deserted, either several students were still in Hogsmeade, or they had all ducked for their common rooms. There was the occasional murmur of an occupant in a painting, and sometimes a student would come along, but mainly Larisa's trip to the Owlrey was quiet. Larisa was used to the feeling of being alone; it crept up around her almost all the time. Daphne had been withdrawn from school, and Pansy wouldn't talk to Larisa even if it would save her life. Briefly, Larisa wondered what she even did to deserve Pansy's wrath...

That didn't matter anymore. Quarrels with old friends paled next to the threat of Voldemort. Larisa pushed the question from her mind and opened the door to the Owlrey, and was met by a blast of cold air and sleet. She made her way to the wall, which was shielded from the wind and sleet.

"Claire, you up for a flight to Wales?" Larisa called. There was a loud hoot, and her large screech owl swooped down and landed on Larisa's shoulder. "Glad you are. Get this to Karina?"

Claire hooted in response, taking the letter in her beak. Larisa made her way over to the window, the sleet starting to sting and bite at her nose. Claire hopped off of her shoulder and sat on the ledge of the window, staring out at the wind and sleet as if she was rethinking making this journey.

"Off you go, then." Larisa murmured, nudging Claire a little. Claire gave a loud, annoyed hoot. "I know you don't want to go. But there are things we have to do, even when we don't want to, like I have to go to lessons or Death Eater meetings."

"Keep your voice down, you don't want anyone to hear that." A voice said, and Larisa jumped so bad that she nearly knocked Claire clear off of the ledge. Claire gave another annoyed hoot as Larisa turned around.

"Didn't I tell you to make your presence known by prodding me on the shoulder?" She asked coldly as Draco came into view.

"Sorry." He muttered. Larisa turned back to look out the window, and she could have sworn that she saw Claire roll her eyes.

"Why did you come here?" Larisa asked.

"I was looking for you. Nott said you were headed up here-"

"I swear to God, I think Nott stalks me or something..." Larisa muttered, nudging Claire again. "Come on, I need you to get that letter to Karina!"

Claire hooted again, very angry this time. Larisa looked over her shoulder at Draco.

"Does the Imperius Curse work on owls?"

That did it. Claire gave a loud, annoyed hoot, then spread her wings wide and took off into the sleet and wind. Larisa watched her become a dot, cracking a smile. Another blast of sleet hit her face, and she closed her eyes against it.

"You seem to love this weather." Draco said, walking over to her.

"It's familiar." Larisa murmured, opening her eyes. "Very familiar."

"You got this all the time in Russia and at Durmstrang?" Draco ask. Larisa nodded.

"I was an ice trap at Durmstrang. Same for Saint Petersburg. This stuff reminds me of where I came from." There was silence for a few seconds, and another blast of sleet hit Larisa.

"Aren't you cold?"

"A little bit. This is nothing, though." Larisa said, shaking her hair out a little. "Have you heard what happened at Hogsmeade?"

"Unfortunately." Draco muttered. "Plan B; failed. If Plan A and C don't work-"

"Yeah, can we not talk about that? It tends to make me go nuts." Larisa said. Silence again. "The first Quidditch match is coming up. Slytherin versus Gryffindor."

"Wonderful. We always get flattened by Gryffindor."

"Maybe this year will be better." Larisa suggested. "Johnson and Spinnet are gone now."

"True...I'm debating whether or not to play for the first match. The Vanishing Cabinet, and all." Again, there was silence. "We should get back to the common room. It's absolutely freezing up here." Draco said as another good blast of sleet flew into the room.

"To you," Larisa said, smirking a little. "But fine." Quite suddenly, Draco put his arm around Larisa. Shivers ran up her spine, but she tilted her head so it was resting on Draco's shoulder.

"You're completely soaked."

"I didn't notice." Larisa said sarcastically, but she still laughed. "I had to write to Karina about a personal issue regarding my mind and some worries I have...Like the fact that after reading just three entries from Sophia's diary, I see our early lives are closely mirrored..."

"That's a little scary to imagine..." Draco said.

"The scarier part is that the Sorting Hat wanted to put her in _Ravenclaw-_"

"That's disturbing."

"She also thought of my dad as an insufferable git in the beginning. I'm probably going to be getting a letter with more explanations when Karina replies...My family history is creepy and interesting."

"To normal people, it's just creepy."

"Oh, shut up." Larisa said, hitting Draco on the arm playfully. "Anyway, I'm not normal. So there."

"I'll agree with that...Nobody is really completely normal." Again, some sleet blew into the room. "Can we go back to the common room?"

"Yes, now I'm starting to get a little cold." Larisa said, shivering slightly as she and Draco left the Owlrey. "I ran into Nott at The Three Broomsticks. He's not too happy with me."

"Why not?"

"He's madly in love with me, and I practically told him to get lost. How was your detention with McGonagall?"

"You know how McGonagall is, she kept going on about how completing homework is important. Like I don't know that, but I have other things on my mind. More important things-"

"Things that would make McGonagall faint." Larisa said darkly.

"Didn't you say that Nott was madly in love with you?"

"Why the sudden subject change?" Larisa asked, smirking slightly.

"You changed the subject before I could get a word in. Is Nott in love with you?"

"Sadly. He doesn't understand that I'm off-limits...Nor does he realize that I don't like him like that."

**&%$&%$&%$**

It was later in the evening, and Larisa was alone in her dorm. Her hair was dry now, and there was a slight gleam to it. Larisa decided that she would read more of Sophia's diary before going to bed, so she picked her wand up off her nightstand and knelt down next to her bed, reaching under it to pull out the box she kept it in. Pointing her wand at the lock, she tapped it.

_**Alohomora!**_She thought, and the box swung open. The diary was right on top of the artifacts that were all crammed into the box. Larisa lifted it out and closed the lid of the box, tapped the lock again, and heard the lock click. She pushed the box back under the bed, set her wand back on the nightstand, and opened the book to the fourth entry.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**December 27h, 1969**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_** I arrived home for the holidays about a week ago. I still haven't gotten over the quietness of the whole time since Helena and Sienna died...**_

_** Either way, it was quiet. Too quiet.**_

_** I spent most of the time talking to Mum, but she's not fun to hold a conversation with. She's kind of mean if you don't agree with her on something, and she's not meant to talk to eleven-year-olds. All she really talks about is blood purity and how mudbloods are scum, and how halfbloods are just as bad.**_

_** To make matters worse, my parents invited the Rei's over. Only three of them came, Borislav's older sister apparently ran off a month ago. Borislav thinks that she's finally seen sense and she's trying to find the Dark Lord, because she was last spotted in Albania. If she manages to find the Dark Lord, I hope she finishes him off...Borislav seems to be secretly hoping that the Dark Lord will finish her off...**_

_** I don't care, as long as Borislav keeps his insane theories to himself.**_

_** Sophia**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa suddenly began to wonder something; Sophia apparently didn't know about Karina until last year...How did she know about her back when she was eleven? And why did Karina run off to Albania?

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**January 12th, 1970**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_** It was a very eventful day today! I talked to Borislav again out of sheer boredom, and I found out that a couple of days ago, his sister was found in southern Albania. She was alive, but badly shaken. Apparently, from the Legilimency her parents did, she did indeed find the Dark Lord. She took him on in a duel, and the Dark Lord fled from the fight because Karina's wand was more powerful than his. Borislav is determined to get his hands on the wand Karina used, and he remembers the day she came home with it...**_

_** Karina had been a high-ranking Russian Auror, and she had been sent to help catch a Dark Witch who had been terrorizing much of Southern Greece, and they needed international help. Karina went on the mission and was gone for a year, until she eventually found the Dark Witch, and took her on. Karina won the duel, and returned home with a wand made out of elder. She refused to speak of the duel, but she said she won the wand from the Dark Witch. She quit being an Auror, and remained at home and is refusing to get married.**_

_** I asked Borislav if he was proud of his sister, but he shook his head and told me his family would be better off without her. This was the point where I was struggling to not lash out at him. He asked me if I have any siblings that aren't living at home anymore. I didn't answer, and he asked me if they turned out to be filthy Squibs. I was unable to control my actions, and I hit him over the head with a book. Slughorn saw me, and he had to give me detention. Oh well.**_

_** Nobody insults my sisters and gets away with it, even if Sienna and Helena are dead.**_

_** Sophia**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

A million more questions zooming through Larisa's head now, she put the book away. As Larisa crawled under the covers, one question burned it's way to the front of her mind.

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**I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THE LONG UPDATE WAIT! It's been difficult to write, as I only have minimal use of one hand. My injured hand is getting better everyday, however.**

**There may be another long wait, just to warn you.**

**(Read&Review!)  
**


	12. An ExAuror and a Death Eater

**Warning: This chapter will make you cry a little, possibly.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.**

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**~*~*~Chapter Twelve: An Ex-Auror and a Death Eater~*~*~**

The following day, Larisa had not received a reply from Karina. Nor did a reply come on Monday. It was a week before Larisa finally got her reply.

"About time!" Larisa said as Claire dropped the envelope that had Larisa's name on it in front of her. Strangely, Claire flew up to the staff table and dropped a letter in front of Dumbledore and a letter in front of Snape before flying out of the Great Hall. Larisa pushed that out of her mind, and focused on tearing open her letter and reading it.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**Dear Larisa,**_

_** I can't put everything I want to say in this letter, so I will get to the point: it's time you and I spoke face to face. This cannot wait until the holidays. I've written Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape on the matter, and are both fine with it. **_

_** Meet me in Professor Snape's office at eleven o'clock, Tuesday evening. Bring Sophia's diary, that locket, and any strange objects that you have acquired. I have a lot of things you need to know, and they cannot wait. I've seen the warning signs, and it's drawing closer every day.**_

_** On the attack on Katie Bell: it's good that she is alright. About the mirror: do not let your mind dwell on what you saw.**_

_** Keep yourself out of trouble!**_

_** Karina**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa felt a strange mix of anger and joy; she was angry that Karina wasn't telling her everything at once, but happy that she was going to see Karina again and gain some answers.

"Did Karina write you back?" Draco asked, sitting down next to Larisa.

"Yeah," Larisa murmured, pocketing the letter. "Still not telling me what I want to know, which irritates me, but I'm glad she wrote back relatively quickly."

"She's probably not telling you everything because she doesn't want to overwhelm you." Draco suggested.

"Andromeda said that earlier this year." Larisa said, suddenly remembering the argument Bellatrix had had with Andromeda early in the year when Larisa had left school when Borislav got out of prison. "She and Bella were arguing about telling me something. Bella wanted to tell me something, and Andromeda said that she should wait to tell me. I overheard a little bit of it." Larisa paused to take a sip of pumpkin juice. "I guess it was about the prophecy. Either way, the cat got out of the bag in the end...muggle expression." Larisa added, for Draco had shot her a confused look.

"I'm not going to ask how a pureblood knows _muggle_ expressions." Pansy Parkinson said as she sat down across from Draco and Larisa. Larisa glared at Pansy, and Pansy, despite the fact that she could easily stand up for herself, recoiled slightly.

"If you must know," Larisa began, her glare still fixed upon Pansy. "I spent most of my childhood around muggles before I started school. And you know what? I'm proud of that fact. Now get lost. You're using up all the oxygen."

"When did you get so nasty? Oh, and being a blood traitor is nothing to be proud of." Pansy asked in a venomous tone.

"Suit yourself, Parkinson. Just let me remind you that you're related to muggles. There's only two Wizarding families in the whole world that hasn't had any muggles, mugleborns, or halfbloods in their family. Sadly, one of them has nearly died out, and the other one has four members left, one only related by marriage. Now, I'll ask nicely; get lost."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. I have conversed with all four of them. Two want me dead, both have very different reasons why. One is very mysterious. One is sitting right in front of you."

"You said you've conversed with all four...You talk to yourself?"

"Used to. My dear mother isn't meant to talk to, let alone be near, children. My dear father got his sorry arse locked in Azkaban for ten years, and he's not meant to talk to or be around children, either. I didn't know my aunt even existed until December last year, and was under the impression she was my grandmother until then. So I remedied this by talking to myself." Larisa explained. She still had her glare up, and it had not faltered once. It looked as though she was trying to burn holes in Pansy. "Now, anything else you need to know?"

"Where did you get that locket?"

"It was my Aunt Sienna's. She died when she was eleven, about fourteen years before I was born. I got it over the summer. Now do me a favor and get lost, or we'll see how well you get to class while glued to a wall." Larisa snarled. Pansy shot Larisa a filthy look before getting up and stalking over to Millicent Bulstrode. There was silence between Draco and Larisa for a few seconds, before Draco spoke.

"How did you figure out how many years there are between everything you've just said?" Larisa giggled before answering.

"A matter of careful research, thinking...and subtraction."

**&%$&%$&%$**

"You know it's a danger to be disobeying the Dark Lord? Or worse, to dare be in my presence? Me, a former Russian Auror? A former Auror who has plenty of tricks up her sleeve? And Borislav told me how you seem to be one of the world's best thinkers, Sophia." An elderly witch with grey hair and violently purple eyes asked coldly, passing another witch with long, black hair a cup of tea. The witch accepted it. "I see you are willing to take a risk, accepting a drink from me. I could have easily poisoned that tea while you took a fraction of a second to blink."

"You wouldn't do that, Karina." The black-haired witch murmured, taking a sip of her tea.

"It was very stupid of you to come here, Sophia." The witch named Karina said, her eyes blazing.

"I know." The witch named Sophia said very softly, setting the cup down on the coffee table in front of her.

"Then why did you come?" Karina asked, sitting in an old armchair, across from Sophia, who was sitting on a couch. Sophia murmured something inaudible, nervously twisting a diamond ring around on her right ring finger. The feeble light shining into the room through a window behind her caught on a watch that rested on her left hand.

Overall, Sophia Rei looked extremely disheveled and unnerved. Her normally well-cared for and sleek hair lacked it's shine, and it was tied up in a very sloppy ponytail. She was deathly pale, and her normally maniacal hazel eyes were very misty and cloudy. She was shaking slightly, and looked as though she was ready to cry. She wore a long, black cloak and a thin, black scarf over a faded blue hand-knitted sweater and a black skirt. The sweater looked a little small on her, and it was very old. A green snake, coiled into an 'S', was worked onto the front, faded with age. The only bright things Sophia had on was a silver watch with tiny emeralds set into the frame, spelling out her former initials, and her wedding ring. Karina's eyes rested on the ring, and they narrowed slightly.

"Your marriage with Borislav is not going quite well right now, I presume?" Karina asked, her expression softening slightly. Sophia gasped slightly, then looked down and hugged herself. She sat like this for a few seconds, still shaking.

Very stiffly, she nodded.

"But that's not why you are here?" Karina prompted, leaning forwards slightly.

Sophia gave another stiff nod, still not meeting Karina's eyes. She looked a little scared, a look that did not suit a psychopathic Death Eater.

"Have you come with a message from the Dark Lord?"

Sophia shook her head.

"From Borislav?"

Sophia shook a little harder at the sound of her husband's name, but collected herself and shook her head. She seemed to be unable to speak, and some tears collected in her eyes.

"You have no messages?"

Sophia nodded. Karina leaned back in her chair, exasperated.

"Then why are you here?"

Silence.

"Speak, woman!"

Sophia gasped, then burst into tears. Her hands flew to cover her face, and she was struggling to bring her emotions under control. She was fighting a losing battle, however, despite her best efforts.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Karina asked, completely alarmed. Sophia did not answer, but continued to wail and shake. Karina had no choice but to sit and watch Sophia Rei, one of the most feared Death Eaters, completely fall apart and lose her tough mask.

After at least a half of an hour, Karina saw that Sophia wasn't going to stop crying anytime soon, so she rose from her seat and walked into the kitchen. She passed over a squeaky floorboard that sounded as though something was under it and stopped at a cupboard that was over a sink. Sighing, she opened it, then looked inside.

Inside, there were a large amount flasks on several shelves. Each shelf had a label, written with small, neat handwriting. With surprising agility, Karina climbed up onto the counter so she could reach one of the top shelves. Reaching out a wrinkled old hand, she picked one of the flasks, then climbed off of the counter. Before closing the cupboard door, she picked a small bottle full of a clear liquid off of the bottom shelf. She closed the door, then opened the cupboard to the left of it and pulled a bottle of Firewhiskey and two glasses out. Sophia gave a particularly loud wail, and Karina hurried back into the sitting room.

"Calm down, calm down..." Karina said, opening a flask and tipping it into one of the glasses. "Here," She held the glass out to Sophia, who took it without thinking. "Drink up. It's a Calming Draught." Sophia drank the potion, and stopped crying. She set the glass down on the table, but Karina picked it up and pointed her wand at it. "_Scourgify__._" She murmured, and the glass cleaned itself instantly. Sophia took out a handkerchief and started to dry her face, and with lightning speed, Karina tipped the bottle of clear liquid into the glass and added the Firewhiskey. She handed it to Sophia, the poured herself some Firewhiskey and settled back into her armchair. Sophia looked much calmer now, taking small sips of her drink. Karina waited for a few seconds, and Sophia's eyelids began to droop as she set her glass down.

"Thanks." She murmured.

"You're welcome, Sophia." Karina said, also setting down her glass. "Now then, will you answer a few questions?"

Silence. Karina held her breath, waiting...

"I don't want to, but I will." Sophia said. The Veritaserum had taken hold, and Sophia wasn't applying Occlumency.

"Can you tell me why you are here?" Karina asked. Sophia nodded and leaned back in the couch, her eyes sliding shut.

"I need help."

"Why do you need help?" Karina coaxed. Sophia's head tilted back so that she would be looking at the ceiling if her eyes were open.

"It involves Larisa." She said after a few seconds, lifting her head back up and staring at Karina. "I don't know if I want her dead anymore..."

"Larisa tells me you changed your story. Why is that?"

"I can't focus on which one I stick true to...Do I want her dead because she reminds me of my little sister, because of the prophecy, or because she's a blood traitor? There's a fourth and a fifth reason why I want her dead, but I've never shared it." Sophia said.

"Would you share the fourth reason with me?" Karina asked, nudging Sophia's glass of Firewhiskey a little closer to her. Sophia absently picked it up and took a few more sips, then set it down again.

"I feel that if I kill her, it will bring Helena back."

Karina froze for a minute, unnerved It was very difficult for her to ask the next question.

"Are you a psychopath?"

"Yes."

That wasn't a very big shock for Karina.

"What's the fifth reason you want her dead?" Karina nudged Sophia's glass of Firewhiskey again, and Sophia picked it up and took a few more sips, then set it back down.

"I see myself in her."

MAJOR unnerving moment. Karina was sure that her eyes had popped out of her head, and she was unable to register what she had heard.

"What did you say?"

"I see myself in Larisa."

Karina was still unable to register what Sophia meant, but she continued on.

"How so?"

"She's a lot like me...Her temper, her skill, her blue eye, her personality, her Occlumency, her black streak, her confusion, her grief, her anger towards her parents, Slytherin, her gift of Parseltounge, her feeling of being different...Whenever I looked at her, I would see Helena's looks, but my personality...It's scary. I don't want my baby girl to end up like me."

"What do-" Karina froze. "Did you call Larisa your 'baby girl'?"

"Yes. She's my baby, but I hate her...I hate her, she reminds me too much of Helena...Too much of myself. My mistakes that made me who I am today." Absently, Sophia twisted her wedding ring around her finger again. "I've chosen my path, and I'm following it, even if I care a very small amount...My path, it will cross Larisa's, and I'll make her stop dead in her tracks."

Karina was beginning to wonder why she even decided to question Sophia...It was obvious that Sophia was a complete psychopath and people didn't need Veritaserum to understand that.

"One more question; is something wrong with your marriage to Borislav?"

"Yes. We've been fighting...He says I'm getting a little questionable in my loyalties to the Dark Lord. I say that he needs help, because he has a plan to k-" Sophia stopped, and Karina realized the effects of Veritaserum were wearing off. Sophia looked around, horror spreading across her face. "Oh my God...How much did I say?"

"Quite a bit. Apparently you harbor some maternal feelings for Larisa, after all. They aren't much, but they're still there...It just took a good amount of Veritaserum to make you realize that."

"No! I don't, Karina. I hate her." Sophia said, crossing her arms.

Karina couldn't help herself. She settled back into her chair, brought her hand up, and smacked herself in the face. That brought her completely to her senses, and she fixed her gaze on Sophia; though Karina still hated Sophia, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. The poor woman was going through a lot, and it was costing her dearly. Karina decided that if she offered to help Sophia, she would be spared from her doomed future for much longer.

"Are you safe at home? I must be as insane as you to offer this, but you can stay here if you don't want to face my dear little brother." Karina asked. Sophia looked thunderstruck, but she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm perfectly safe at home, and I'm not insane-"

"You admitted to being a psychopath while under the influence of Veritaserum." Karina pointed out. "Sophia, I know what's coming for you, and if you don't get help, it's going to fly at you faster than a rampaging hippogriff."

"I don't need your help...Well, there is one thing...You see, I was wondering if you could please Transfigure my eyes to their original state? Blue?"

It must have been a major blow to her pride, but Sophia had asked to put herself back together in her appearances. Karina couldn't help but admire that, and she pulled her wand out and pointed it at Sophia's hazel eyes. She muttered the incantation, and Sophia's eyes slid from hazel to a gorgeous, pure blue color.

"Thanks." Sophia sad, rising from her seat. She straightened her sweater a little, looking at it lovingly. "This was mine when I was seventeen. My mum knitted it for me...Goodbye." With that, Sophia went into the hallway and opened the front door, the happy, loving look still on her face as she left the house, closing the door behind her.

Karina prayed that she would never see a look like that on Sophia Rei's face ever again.

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**This chapter was typed one-handed.**

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	13. The Twin's Return

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Thirteen: The Twin's Return~*~*~**

The day Karina was to visit Larisa arrived. Larisa had an hour before Karina would arrive, and she could hardly wait. She had the box in her bag, and she was clutching Sophia's diary tightly in one hand, all while staring fixedly at the clock. There weren't many people in the common room, only two seventh years and Pansy Parkinson, who would keep shooting glares over at Larisa every so often. Larisa would glare at Pansy out of the corner of her eyes every so often, but neither girl would say anything. Time was dragging by slowly, and Larisa decided to read a little more of Sophia's diary. It would pass the time faster, anyway...

She opened the cover, licked her left thumb, and turned to the sixth entry.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**January 29th, 1970**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_** I got detention today. Borislav finally got the guts to ask me why I hit him with a book a few weeks ago, and I somehow got him with a Color-Change Charm. Madam Pince looked about ready to hit me with the book she was holding, and she dragged me and Borislav to Dumbledore, who put Borislav straight and gave me detention. Shame, Borislav looked loads better with pink and blue striped hair...**_

_** Well, I did my detention ('I must not change Borislav Rei's hair to pink and blue stripes', what are they playing at?!), then went back to the common room. Slughorn didn't keep me past ten, which was a plus. However, Borislav was there, which was a minus. The git wanted to talk to me for some odd reason. I did the classic eyebrow raise, then, quite reluctantly, agreed. Turns out that he wanted to ask if I would consider being a Death Eater...Heck no, if I was going to be a Dark Witch, I'd strike it out on my own instead of following some bald, noseless guy. The idea seemed tempting, though, and we got into a pretty avid discussion on the subject. While talking, I expressed my thoughts that Bellatrix Black was going to end up a Death Eater because the Ministry would never take her on.**_

_** Speak of the devil, and who appeared? Bellatrix Black. She came storming over from out of nowhere and gave us a lecture about what the Death Eaters do is sick, twisted, evil, and how only idiots have the ambition to become them. Borislav, quite cruelly, told her that she should join up to give them all a laugh. What happened next was no surprise.**_

_** Bellatrix Black may look as though she hasn't ever seen a hairbrush in her life, and she may have a kind personality, but she sure knows how to slap people.**_

_** I personally hope the imprint of her hand scars. But that's not likely.**_

_** Sophia**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa struggled to keep from laughing, because out of the corner of her eye she saw Pansy staring at her. Looking up at the clock, Larisa saw that she had forty-five minutes left. The suspense was killing her, and she busied herself with pondering what had been written. Even though Larisa still hated Sophia, she had to admire her mother's nerve at turning Borislav's hair pink and blue, even if it was an accident. She briefly wished that Sophia had gotten a picture, then Larisa would be able to turn around and blackmail Borislav like she had blackmailed Umbridge the previous school year.

Speak of the devil, Larisa turned to the next entry, and who was in it? Professor Umbridge. Larisa immediately began to read the entry.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**February 14th, 1970**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_** Today, if I was a third year or higher, I could have gone to Hogsmeade. Sadly, I'm just a first year, so I watched everyone leave and spent the day in the common room with a seventh year named Dolores Umbridge. She was wearing an infuriatingly pink sweater, and her voice was so sweet it made me feel sick. Oh well, the only other person I could have talked to was Andromeda Black, but she's a blood traitor and she hates me. Borislav had landed himself a detention along with a second year named Wilkes and two other first years, Mulciber and Avery. The four of them all got caught jinxing some Ravenclaws for no reason...I'm betting all four of them join the Death Eaters after school. Well, back to me and Dolores. She told me that she's planning on joining the Ministry of Magic after school, and then she asked me what I'm considering.**_

_** The way my family is, I'm probably going to get out of school, stay at home for a year, get put into an arranged marriage, and be married by age nineteen. Whoop-dee-flipping-do. Dolores said she pities me, even when it's blatantly obvious that she doesn't. At least she remained quiet while I complained about my mother and how she's WAY too obsessed with following traditions of my family. And I mean WAY TOO OBSESSED. One tradition I find annoying is that every girl in my family that has black hair must have a first name that starts with an 'S', and all other hair colors get a random name. I spent quite a long time complaining, because by the time I was done, people started returning from Hogsmeade. Bellatrix and Narcissa came tumbling into the common room a little after three, and they went racing over to Andromeda. Bellatrix had a look on her face that was happy, stunned, upset, and excited all at once.**_

_** Being the sneaky person I am, I tried to listen in on the conversation between the three sisters. Bellatrix said something about an arranged marriage between her and some guy named Lestrange (which she seemed extremely happy about, because she and Lestrange had been dating since she was in her fourth year), but said person was forced to be a Death Eater because his father had been one. Borislav chose to enter the common room at that moment, and he began taunting Bellatrix about being forced into an arranged marriage (obviously he didn't catch the part about how Bellatrix and Lestrange had been dating since Bellatrix was a fourth year), and we both know what happened afterwards...**_

_** The imprint of Bellatrix's hand is going to scar on Borislav's face some day.**_

_** Sophia**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

"What are you reading?"

Larisa jumped and nearly dropped the book as Pansy Parkinson said this from right behind her. Collecting herself, Larisa had enough sense to slap the book shut before speaking.

"Nothing." She said quickly, fiddling with her left earring. "Besides, it's none of your business what I read."

"It looks like a diary." Pansy pointed out. "Lemme see it."

"The day I let you read this is the day Voldemort goes skipping through a field of daisies." Larisa said, her grip on the small, leather-bound book tightening.

"I'm going to pretend you never said that as to rid my mind of the-"

"Shut your trap, will you?" Larisa snarled, finally standing up and turning around to face Pansy. "It's none of your business, so why don't you go and mortally offend some first year Hufflepuffs?" With that, Larisa walked around the couch and stalked towards the door out of the common room. She quickly looked at her watch, and she still had a half hour left. Ignoring this, Larisa opened the door and stomped out, slamming it shut behind her. She stood there for a few seconds, then decided it would be best to head to Snape's office. With a slight skip in her step, she set off, hoping she wouldn't run into Filch.

Of course, as soon as that thought entered her head, she heard a meow. Horror struck, she froze, and very slowly turned around. Her mismatched blue and red eyes met Mrs. Norris's yellow, lamp-like eyes, and both seemed to freeze to the spot even more. Larisa had half the mind to put a Memory Charm on the cat, but decided against it, for the repercussions from Filch would be highly unpleasant. Mrs. Norris, suddenly coming to her senses, streaked off, and Larisa sprinted towards Snape's office, not wanting to be caught by Filch. She skidded to a stop outside of Snape's office, and set a hand on his office door to steady herself while trying to catch her breath. After a few minutes, she managed to catch her breath, and she knocked on the door.

"Enter." Snape's voice said, and Larisa opened the door and stepped inside. Snape was at his desk writing on some parchment, and he raised an eyebrow as Larisa closed the door.

"Karina said to be here-"

"I'm well aware of that, I'm wondering why you look as though you've just run a marathon..." Snape said, looking Larisa over.

"I had to escape from Filch without needing to play a deadly game of hide-and-seek." Larisa mumbled, straightening her collar. Snape looked as though he was trying very hard not to laugh. Obviously, he was failing, because he ducked behind a book, slightly pink and shaking. Larisa looked at the small clock on his desk and saw it was one minute to eleven. Nearly shaking with anticipation, Larisa stared at the fireplace.

The clock struck eleven, and suddenly the fireplace was full of green flames. Just as suddenly as they sprang up, the died down, and Karina Rei came staggering out of the fireplace, brushing ash off of the red-violet dress and brown jacket she was wearing. She was also carrying what looked like a black suitcase.

"...absolutely hate Floo Powder...Ugh..." She muttered to herself, straightening her jacket and tucking a stray lock of grey hair behind her ear. "Hello, dear."

"Hello, Karina." Larisa said, smiling. Karina smiled back, then turned to Snape, who was still having a silent fit of laughter behind a book.

"Hello, Severus. Holding up well?" Karina asked in a slightly wary tone. Snape finished his small fit, then set his book down and rose from his seat.

"I'm doing fine. How's lurking around Russia every other day?"

"Lovely...It's good to return...Goodness, so much has changed over there...Especially at the manor, it's falling apart...It hasn't been inhabited since Alexander died in 1980..." Karina said, shrugging out of her jacket. "Now, how have you been holding up, dear?"

"I've been so-so." Larisa said, shrugging. Karina rose an eyebrow, but pulled out her wand. She gave it a lazy flick, and three chairs fell out of midair.

"Oh, no, I'm not staying," Snape said. "I need to talk to Dumbledore."

"Ah..._Evanesco!_" Karina said, pointing her wand at the extra chair. "Don't let me keep you waiting."

"Thank you." Snape said, sweeping over to the door an exiting the office. Karina pointed her wand at the door and flicked it, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Sit." She said, and Larisa sat down. "Now, I can obviously tell you are bursting with questions, but they have to wait. I have something very important to tell you...It may come as a very nasty shock..." Larisa gave Karina her undivided attention. "A few days ago, your mother came to see me."

Attention lost.

"WHAT?" Larisa yelped, feeling a little betrayed. Karina held up a hand for silence, and Larisa fell silent, seething.

"Your mother came to see me...She was very emotionally distraught-"

"My mother, emotionally distraught? HA!" Larisa said in a very cruel tone. Karina again held up a hand for silence. Larisa, despite the anger that suddenly flared up and threatened to explode, fell silent again.

"I know you feel betrayed...Do not think that, I wasn't too kind to Sophia. Her marriage to your father is not going well, she's very confused and upset-"

"How do you know it wasn't a trap?" The anger was getting to the danger zone.

"She accepted a drink of tea from me, an Ex-Auror, and drank it without checking to see if it was poisoned..."

Larisa saw no way around this, so Karina plowed on, explaining everything that happened when Sophia went to Karina's. When she was finished, Larisa felt horrified and confused. Thankfully, her anger vanished on the spot. There was a ringing silence, and neither witch seemed willing to break it.

"In short, Sophia's insane?" Larisa asked, lowering the situation to something she could comprehend before raising it back up.

"Not just yet. She's very close, however. Her psychopathic tendencies are metaphorically drowning her, and she's eating away at what small amount of the sanity she has, when she thinks she's clinging to it."

"But I read part of her diary, and she seemed only a little crazy by the time she started at Hogwarts...Wait a minute..." Larisa mumbled, and she pulled out Sophia's diary. She ran her hand across the cover before beginning to turn it in her hands. An insane theory began to float into her mind, and trying as hard as she could, she tried to push it from her mind, but no matter what, the theory stuck.

"Yes, the diary..." Karina murmured, her purple eyes staring at the leather-bound book in Larisa's hands.

"Sophia was fully aware of you when she was a kid...But then she thinks you're her mother-in-law..."

"THAT is an interesting story I haven't told...I'm assuming that in the beginning of the diary, there is a mention of me running away to Albania?"

"Well...Yes..."

"And after I returned, I was deeply shaken?"

"Yes...How do you...?"

"One, you need to keep your Occlumency applied more often," Karina said, a faint smirk on her face. Larisa scowled at the floor, quickly applying Occlumency. "Two, I did run away to Albania when I was twenty-eight, and I did return shortly afterwards, deeply shaken."

"Why, though?" Larisa asked. "Why did you run away? Let alone face Riddle without a team of Aurors?" Karina rose a greying eyebrow, but she looked slightly amused.

"I see you wish to leave no stone unturned...I can't say you're too young, you're nearly of age..." Karina closed her eyes for a minute. "Very well. Listen, because I'm only going to tell you my life story once. It was bad enough living it..." She opened her eyes, and Larisa sat up a little straighter. "I was born on February twenty-eighth, 1941. I witnessed the duel between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald when I was four years old. I must add, it was scary and exciting, but the only thing that will ever rival THAT duel will be when The Elder Wand and The Twin are forced to battle."

Larisa's left hand involuntarily twitched, and strangely, Karina's right hand twitched.

"Moving on...I went to Hogwarts from 1952 to 1959, first under Professor Dippet until 1956, then Professor Dumbledore. I became a Russian Auror in 1963 when I was twenty-two, and I retired when in 1967 when I was twenty-six. Now, the reason I retired..." A Muggle light bulb went off in Larisa's mind.

"You dueled a Dark Witch, won the allegiance of her wand, then went into a quiet life at home because something that happened shook you very badly?"

"Yes," Karina said, her eyes resting on the diary again. "It wasn't the fight that shook me...It was far from the fight...Very far..." Karina seemed to be talking more to herself than Larisa, who was clinging to Karina's every word. "It was the wand. I won it's allegiance, and that's what scared me...The immense power it had..." Something else slid into place in Larisa's mind, and she remembered reading something in the diary...

_**...and returned home with home with a wand made out of elder.**_

"Did you become the master of The Elder Wand?" Larisa asked before she could stop herself. Karina looked at Larisa with a slightly alarmed look, but very stiffly shook her head.

"No...Close, though..."

"You mean...You used to be the master of..._The Twin?_" Larisa cried. Karina nodded gravely as Larisa's hand plunged into her pocket. She withdrew the fifteen inch, elder with unicorn hair wand, and twirled it through her fingers. The silence that followed was louder than the silence between Larisa and Draco back in June, but this silence was intimidating.

"That's all the time I have..." Karina muttered, and she got up from her seat. Larisa followed, and Karina looked her over. "You're looking more and more like Sophia the older you get...Do me a favor, and never dye your hair?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Larisa said, when Karina handed her the black suitcase.

"These will come in handy someday. Take good care of yourself, Larisa."

"Bye, Karina." Larisa said as Karina stepped into the fireplace and threw the Floo Powder down. She vanished with a _pop_, and even though Larisa had many more questions, she decided not to ask them anytime soon.

It was time to deduce things for herself.

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**Dundundun...**

**There will be no updates until next week. I'm sorry about that.**

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	14. Mysteries and Memories

**Warning: Some things Larisa will say in this chapter will be in Russian. A translation will be provided in the end.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.**

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**~*~*~Chapter Fourteen: Mysteries and Memories~*~*~**

Larisa had a slightly downcast look on her face as she walked into the Room of Requirement. Just a half hour ago, Slytherin had been flattened by Gryffindor in the first Quidditch match of the season, and Larisa had to break the news to Draco, who had skipped the match to work on the Vanishing Cabinet. Sadly, she pushed the door to the Room of Requirement open and walked inside. Closing it behind her, she tossed her hair over her shoulder before making her way towards the Vanishing Cabinet. As always, Draco was by it, trying to get it working properly again. He had not heard Larisa come in, and despite Larisa's misery, she couldn't help but poke a little fun at him. Silently, she crept up behind him, then stood on her tiptoes so she was close to his ear. Carefully, she held her breath so he wouldn't hear her.

"_Ti znahyehsh, yah tyehbyah ehah speenoy?_" She whispered very quickly. Draco froze, and Larisa took a step back as he turned around, looking slightly amused.

"You know that I have no idea what you just said, right?"

"All the more reason to learn," Larisa said simply, examining her nails, which were painted black. "Take a wild guess at what I said."

"I don't know, honestly..."

"Correct!"

"Really?"

"No."

"Damn. Can you repeat what you said?" Draco asked. Larisa tilted her head before speaking.

"_Ti znahyehsh, yah tyehbyah ehah speenoy._" She repeated. Draco looked extremely confused.

"Again, but a bit slower this time?"

"_Ti znahyehsh, yah tyehbyah ehah speenoy._" Larisa repeated again, very slowly.

"I give up."

"Doesn't matter. You'll have plenty of time to learn Russian, and someday you'll figure it out. Right now, that isn't important. What's important is-"

"It's still not working properly." Draco answered before Larisa could ask the question. It was a major blow, and Larisa struggled to keep calm. The locket was still holding it's effect over her, but Larisa could not help but feel miserable. "So how did the match go?"

"Oh, we got flattened by Gryffindor, as usual," Larisa said, her tone strangely calm, despite her mind screaming at it to sound sad. "Weasley kept saving everything, and Harper missed the Snitch by a nanosecond."

"Damn." Draco said, looking downcast. "I hope Urquhart didn't give you a hard time afterwards..."

"He didn't get a chance. I know looks like that, I had to put up with them from Sophia for fourteen years. As soon as I saw that look, I ran for it. I can't evade him forever, but I'm going to try." Larisa explained, tracing the chain of her locket. "_On nahstoyahshchyeey eedeeot, poehtomoo yah dolzhnah bit tonkoy._"

"Pardon?"

"Nothing...Just insulting Urquhart. I'll go find a book to test, alright?"

"Alright." Draco said, and Larisa sped off into the rubbish.

**&%$&%$&%$**

It was growing late, and Larisa lay awake in her dorm, staring up at the ceiling. The locket sat on her nightstand, the emeralds glimmering slightly in the dull candlelight. In the slight darkness, Larisa let her mind wander, dwelling on one thing: The Twin. She didn't know why, but while in the Room of Requirement, she needed to use a Hover Charm to moves something. When she pulled out her wand, The Twin, curiosity about it stuck much harder than usual. Now, here she was, dwelling about it. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her mind to shut down; it always went back to The Twin. Turning on to her side, she again attempted to shut her mind down. This attempt was no better than the rest, and she flopped back onto her back, glaring up at the ceiling. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. She rolled on to her other side, and as she did this, other mysteries in her life spilled into her thoughts.

** _Who was are the First, the Second, and the Third in order? What is up with my locket? What is up with that diadem in the Room of Requirement? What are some OTHER creepy traditions that are forced upon Sophia's family? What about Borislav's family?_**

Exasperated, Larisa again rolled on to her other side.

** _Why does Sophia suddenly care a little? Why does Karina not tell me everything? Why does Voldemort want ME dead, other than the fact that I'm against him and I can love? What is the hidden message in the prophecy? Why did the Twin choose me?_**

Larisa closed her eyes in the hopes she would drift off to sleep. Finally, the biggest mystery of all dropped into Larisa's mind...

** _Why is it that horrible things always happen me?_**

Finally, she threw the covers off and knelt down on the floor. Dragging the familiar locked wooden box out from under her bed, she grabbed her wand and tapped the lock.

"_Alohomora__!_" She whispered, and the box swung open. Instantly, she plunged her hand into it's depths and extracted a muggle notebook before closing the lid and shoving it under her bed. Larisa then crawled back onto her bed and opened the muggle notebook before lighting her wand tip and holding it to the page. The first page was dedicated to recordings of the memories Larisa had gotten when she was fourteen. She scowled at the recording of the second memory, for it gave Larisa even more reason to hate her mother. Larisa vividly recalled watching the memory, how Sophia had gone in the middle of the night to Lestrange Manor to yell at Bellatrix, and how Bellatrix had pointed out she and Sophia were equals. They were both pureblood, and they both had gotten married at the age of nineteen. Larisa had deduced that Sophia and Borislav had gotten married soon before that memory took place. Even though she was their daughter, she never knew when they had gotten married. It had to be between January second, which was the day after the first memory, and March twelfth, which was the day before the second memory.

Still confused, Larisa turned the page. The second page had the prophecy and the interpretations on it, and Larisa looked at it fondly. She didn't know exactly how or why she felt this way, but she remembered how the prophecy seemed to bring her and Draco closer. Finally, Larisa flipped to a blank page, then grabbed a Self-Inking Quill from off of her nightstand. Holding her wand over the page in her right hand, she began to write down whatever she could about four of the mysteries in her life, a new page for each mystery. Suddenly, a new question fell into her mind. It wasn't relavent to any of the other mysteries in her life, but it still picked at her mind.

** _In the second memory, why was Bellatrix awake near three o'clock in the morning?_**

Scowling, Larisa wrote it down as a fifth mystery. She'd ask Bellatrix over the holidays.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**Mystery 1: The Twin**_

_**Who has had it: Greek Dark Witch (?-1967), Karina Rei (1967-1979 or 1980), Ollivander (1979 or 1980-1994), Me (1994-)**_

_**Properties: 15", Elder, unicorn tail hair core. Light brown, extremely powerful, and made from the exact same branch as the Elder Wand.**_

_**Differences from the Elder Wand:  
-Unicorn tail hair core instead of Thestral tail hair core  
-Does not HAVE to pass hands by murder or defeat  
-One other difference; unknown**_

_**Reasons it may have chosen me:  
-I'm related to Karina Rei (My paternal aunt)**_

_**Mystery 2: Traditions and Traits in the Irli Family**_

_**TRAITS**_

_**-Signs of magic at two months  
-Early birthdays (January-Early March)  
-Slytherins  
-Dark Wizards and Witches  
-Parselmouths  
-Black hair (Sometimes white with a black streak)  
-Blue eyes (sometimes brown eyes)  
-Extremely violent and nasty tempers  
-Resistance to many curses  
-Highly advanced magical skills**_

_**TRADITIONS**_

_**-All girls with black hair get a name starting with 'S'.**_

_**Mystery 3: Creepy Traditions and Traits in the Rei Family**_

_**TRAITS**_

_**-Signs of magic at two months  
-Early birthdays (January-Early March)  
-Slytherins  
-Dark Wizards and Witches  
-Blonde hair  
-Green eyes (Sometimes purple, possibly)  
-Control of magic at an early age**_

_**TRADITIONS**_

_**(None known...Yet)**_

_**Mystery 4: The Message in the Prophecy**_

_**Message so far: Larisa Helena Rei**_

_**Mystery 5: In the second memory, why was Bellatrix awake at three in the morning?**_

_**Date of memory: March 13th, 1977  
Time of memory: Around three in the morning  
Place of memory: Lestrange Manor, Derbyshire, England  
People in memory: Sophia Rei (#1), Borislav Rei (Not directly in memory, mentioned, #2), Bellatrix Lestrange (#3), Lord Voldemort/Tom Marvolo Riddle/The Dark Lord (Not directly in memory, mentioned, #4)  
Memory: 1 went to Lestrange Manor in Derbyshire, England, to yell at 3, who supposedly put 2 under the Cruciatus Curse. 3 denied this claim, said it was 4. The motive for the curse was that 1 and 2 were recently wed before this, between January 2nd and March 12th. 1 was still mad at 3, fight broke out, 3 knocked over, and 1 stomped out.  
Question: Why was Bellatrix awake at the time the memory took place?  
Answer: (I don't know yet.)**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa looked over each page, examining her work. When she assured herself it was the best she could do, she set the notebook and quill on her nightstand, put out her wand, then curled up and drifted off to sleep.

**&%$&%$&%$**

The next few weeks passed in a blur to Larisa, and soon it was two weeks before the holidays. When McGonagall came around collecting the names of students who would be remaining at school, Larisa didn't put her name down. She was looking forward to spending the holidays with Bellatrix, even though Bellatrix was still thoroughly depressed by Rodolphus getting sent back to Azkaban.

Larisa didn't know she'd be sent straight through hell before the holidays, however...

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**MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE FORESHADOWING IN THIS CHAPTER. I MEAN IT.  
**

**Translations, Russian to English:**

**_Ti znahyehsh, yah tyehbyah ehah speenoy?_: You know, I'm behind you?**  
**_On nahstoyahshchyeey eedeeot, poehtomoo yah dolzhnah bit tonkoy._: He's a real idiot, so I should be fine.**

**NOTE FROM LIVELIFETOTHEFULLEST4E: Due to the mounting darkness in this story, I have been considering raising the rating from T to M. I have put a poll on my profile about it. PLEASE vote in it, for the fate of the rating lies in your hands, dear readers. Review, as well. It gives me motivation to continue this, and it lets me know that you like/hate it. -puppydog eyes-**


	15. The First to Fall

**WARNING: This chapter _will_ make you cry. Have your tissues ready.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Fifteen: The First to Fall~*~*~**

Karina tied the thick roll of parchment to the owl's leg, then opened the window. Chilly December air blew into the kitchen and ruffled Karina's hair slightly as she stared up at the sky. Tiny stars dotted it here and there, and a shooting star fell by. Karina closed her violently purple eyes and made a wish, then gave the owl a slight nudge as she opened her eyes.

"Go! Bring the first letter to Severus at Hogwarts, and the second to Lestrange Manor in Derbyshire for Bellatrix. It is crucial that they get those letters! Let no one else see them, let no one else touch them!" Karina said, her voice hard and determined. She knew something was going to happen, and the very thought didn't scare her one bit, despite it's awful price. The owl hooted softly and took off in the direction of Scotland. The direction to Hogwarts. Sighing, Karina closed the window of the kitchen, then walked into the sitting room after turning out the lights. Every light in the house was off, and the only light in the room was from the moon outside. Karina's eyes raked around the sitting room, and they rested on the photographs above the fireplace. With slow footsteps, she made her way over to them. One picture, which she placed in the front of all the others, showed a tall girl of about nineteen with long, blonde hair and purple eyes standing next to a three-year-old boy with short blonde hair and green eyes. Karina sighed and shook her head, clicking her tounge. "If only he listened...If only he listened..."

Quite suddenly, there was a faint _pop_ in the hallway, and Karina snapped around to see a hooded figure coming into the sitting room. It's silvery mask glimmered in the light of it's wand, which was pointed straight at Karina's heart. The figure had a sort of stumble in it's walk, and Karina guessed it was about six feet and three inches tall.

"Good evening." She said calmly, not even attempting to draw her wand. The figure froze, then reached up and grabbed it's mask. It pulled it off quickly, catching it's hood and pulling that off, as well. As the mask fell to the floor, Karina looked at the figure's face. It was a man with pale skin, deadened green eyes, and short blonde hair...

"Well, well, well...I've got you cornered now." Borislav Rei said in a horrible voice that made Karina flinch a little.

"I'm quite surprised you haven't attempted to curse me just yet..." Karina replied, making Borislav's eyes narrow into slits. "Tell me, how's Sophia? You two have been fighting, I hear."

"How would you know?" Borislav asked, his eyes widening. Karina threw her head back and laughed, then fixed him with a hard glare.

"You were always pitiful with Occlumency. All Rei's, except for your daughter, are, you should know that," She said harshly. "Legilimency, that's a real skill we have. Now, answer my question!" Borislav, who had been in a stunned silence, needed to find his voice before answering.

"She's fine. We stopped fighting in late October. She's been a little difficult, lately, though...Little things are setting her off, then she's happy, and then she's in tears," Borislav said, finally finding his voice. "But why would you care?"

"I like to know what's going on in my family, thank you very much. Sadly, I know a little too much about your little plan...Like I said, you were pitiful with Occlumency." Karina said airily, examining her fingernails. Borislav looked as though something very heavy had nearly missed hitting him in the head as silence fell between the siblings. After what felt like hours, he spoke again.

"You must know why I am here, then. I will let you know one thing, though: I will spare you, if you bring me..." He looked around the room quickly, as if he was checking the room for witnesses. "...The Twin of the Elder Wand." Karina nearly laughed, but she kept control. Now was not the time to laugh at her younger brother.

"I'm afraid you missed it by about sixteen years." Karina said, her purple eyes locking to Borislav's green ones. "I do not have it. I got rid of it, and I am not the true master anymore. There are three differences between The Twin and The Elder Wand. One," Karina held up a finger. "It has a unicorn tail hair core, instead of a thestral tail hair core. Two," Karina held up another finger. "It does not _have_ to pass hands by murder and defeat. The true master can decide if they do not want it anymore, and the wand will choose it's new master on it's own. Three-"

"I'm afraid that I do not care what the differences are, _Katherina_. I only want to know where it is!" Borislav spat, his eyes flashing. "Tell me, or I'll kill you!"

"Is that what you said to mummy before you killed her?" Karina snapped, her eyes flashing as well. Borislav looked as though he had just nearly been hit with something heavy again, and he nearly dropped his wand in shock. "Yes, Borislav, I know you killed her. She suddenly began to show remorse for what she did while she and daddy were serving Gellert Grindelwald, didn't she? She decided she didn't want you serving the Dark Lord anymore, and you stupidly went and told him, so he ordered you to kill her...and you did, without a second thought."

"The Dark Lord's word is law." Borislav said simply.

"You disgust me. You'd happily kill your own family members if he told you too. Is there ANY time where you believe he crosses the line? A time where you wouldn't kill who he tells you to kill?" Karina asked angrily. Borislav was breathing rather heavily, anger and shock showing in his eyes.

"Well..." He said slowly. "I cannot understand that...horrible...branch of magic, therefor-"

"Oh, shut it, Borislav! I know of the one person you'd never kill! You can understand love in her case, you always loved her since you first saw her!" Karina said loudly, exasperated. Angrily, she reached up and grabbed her hair, maintaining a steady stream of swear words. When her small tantrum was done, she regained her calm voice, yet it had a slight edge to it. "You may fight sometimes, but I know you love Sophia."

"In her case, yes. I understand that horrible branch of magic. But no one else. Especially that pathetic excuse for a daughter of mine." Borislav said, more to himself than Karina.

"Yes, it's awful, isn't it? Being related to one of the most powerful witches on the planet, the one sole member of our family who can truly, fully understand love." Karina said sarcastically.

"That brings us around to my next request..." Borislav said softly.

"Carry on, then. I grow tired of discussing your psychopathic mind."

"SHUT UP! Now, my next request...Where is Larisa during the summers? I hear she is no longer at Malfoy Manor..."

"Ah, I had a feeling you'd ask that...I'm afraid that I do not know where she is. It is my guess that she hightails it off to Russia, or possibly right back to London. It's the last place anyone would ever look for her..."

"You lie! She's too young to strike it out on her own, too weak, not powerful enough!" Borislav said acidicly, clearly growing frustrated. Karina prayed that he would not use Legilimency, that he would not somehow have any Veritaserum. Angrily, she plowed on.

"Borislav, you need to learn something. Your daughter is far more powerful than you, far more powerful, for she can understand love!" Karina snapped. Borislav closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Love is a weakness."

"Hark who's talking, you love Sophia, you liar." Karina spat. Again, silence fell between the two, Karina staring down her younger brother, Borislav glaring at his older sister. The clock on the wall struck two in the morning, yet the two did not tear their gazes from each other. At last, Borislav spoke.

"You know, I never liked you...I always hated you. You're idiotic blood traitor tendencies, your acceptance of the prophecy...You never were worried, you never sought to try to end it."

"And that is where you are horribly wrong."

Silence between the siblings again. Borislav's grip on his wand tightened, and still, Karina made no attempt to draw her wand. The clock still ticked on, and the waves outside still crashed against the shore.

"You see," Karina said, speaking when it became clear that Borislav wasn't going to talk. "You could have turned your back on the prophecy, and it would never have happened. Sure, Larisa would still end up being the last of the family line because of the curse on our family and Sophia's family, but the effects of the prophecy would not matter had you not set them in motion. You've interpreted it well, I know, but the message hidden in it doesn't have to matter. Yet, you were quite scared by it, and when Larisa was born, you sought out to keep it from happening. At that, you concluded that the only way to stop it...was to kill your own daughter."

Borislav remained silent, a slightly shocked look on his face. The clock's hand twitched towards half-past two.

"Your first attempt to kill her was thwarted by dear Bellatrix. She could not bear to see you kill an innocent child, especially when it was your own. I also believe that there was another story behind her intervention, yet it matters very little here. You grew frustrated, because you couldn't get rid of Larisa while Bellatrix had her eye on her. Therefor, you had to somehow get Bellatrix out of the way, and why not her husband and brother-in-law, for good measure? They would have surely kept their eyes on Larisa if Bellatrix was unable to, and they would have killed you without a second thought if you attempted to hurt Larisa again. So, why not get them a life imprisonment in Azkaban? You put all three under the Imperius Curse, and then sent them to torture two Aurors. They were caught by the Ministry, and sent away to Azkaban. At last, Larisa wasn't constantly being watched like a hawk watches a mouse. Again, you attempted to kill her when she was five, but you were thwarted again by the Killing Curse rebounding off of her. You were caught by the Russian Ministry, and they sent you to Azkaban."

Borislav was still silent, his breath quickening.

"You had a whole lifetime to plan your next attempt. Over the ten years you spent in Azkaban, you kept thinking and planning. You always had that on your mind, and when you escaped, you put the plan into action," Karina closed her eyes and sighed before opening them. "That is why you're here. You feel that, with killing me, you'll destroy Larisa."

"How the bloody hell...?" Borislav asked, his voice dangerously soft.

"I guessed." Karina said truthfully. Borislav's jaw dropped, but he closed his mouth quickly and fixed Karina with a glare of pure hatred. "Now then, if you're going to kill me...I suggest you get on with it." This was accompanied by an extremely loud silence that pressed against Karina and Borislav, willing them to implode. Several minutes passed, and Karina compared the ticking of the clock to the time she had left on Earth. It was sad for her to admit that she wasn't scared; she always had a feeling that she was going to die this way. By the hands of her own brother, she didn't expect.

"Why haven't you attempted to fight?"

Borislav's question was so childlike, so obvious, that Karina briefly saw him as a curious three-year-old child again. A curious three-year-old gone wrong, tainted by darkness, grown into what he was today; a cold-blooded killer. A Death Eater. Karina pitied her brother, what he had become.

"Because, Borislav," She said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "I do not wish to duel my own brother."

"You lie."

"Well, there is more reasoning behind it...There is the fact that I do not wish to harm my own brother, despite what you have become. I pity you, I really do. You've been tainted and shoved far into the Dark Arch, far enough to kill your own mother and sister, innocent bystanders. Far enough to want to kill your own daughter, who only wanted her father to love her and accept her for who she is. Far enough to not realize that daddy would surely die of grief by mummy's murder. Face it, Borislav. You've torn your own family apart, you've killed almost all of them. All that's left is me, and I accept what's coming at me. I willingly walk into Death's open arms, ready to depart with him as an equal."

The silence pressed in on them again, Borislav with an unreadable expression, Karina with a calm one.

"I die with no regrets, little brother. I die with the hopes that someday, you realize your mistakes, but you will understand that it is too late to apologize to all you have hurt. All families you have torn apart. All the lives you have ruined." There was a final silence, and Karina knew what was about to happen...

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

Karina made no attempt to dodge the curse as it flew at her, and she didn't feel afraid as it struck her full on. She remained alive long enough for her violently purple eyes to find Borislav's deadened green ones. As soon as their eyes met, the light left Karina's, and she fell backwards. Borislav was out of the house as soon as his sister hit the floor with a dull _thud_, quickly setting off the Dark Mark before Disapparating.

Outside, a greenish light spread out over the countryside as the skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth hovered over Karina's house, but the waves still crashed on. An owl hooted somewhere in the distance, and it began to snow.

Inside, the clock struck three in the morning, and greenish light came streaming in through the window. It reflected off of Karina's purple eyes, which stared up at the ceiling, never to see again.

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**Katherina Esmé Rei, February 28th, 1941-December 4th, 1996**

**This chapter was very hard to write, I couldn't stop tearing up.**

**Please review, and please take the poll. The fate of the rating lies in your hands.  
**


	16. Cleared

**Warning 1: There are some words said in this chapter that will be in Russian. A translation will be provided in the end.**

**Warning 2: This chapter is kinda angsty. Have your tissues ready, just in case you cry.**

**Author's Note: MY HAND HAS MADE AN ALMOST-FULL RECOVERY! Now, enough of my babbling. Onward!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Sixteen: Cleared~*~*~**

"Where have you been?" Sophia snarled, her face inches from Borislav's. She was completely white in the face with rage, and her fists were clenched so tightly that her fingernails were digging into her skin. Her jet black hair was slightly messy, but otherwise still shimmering in the light of the lamps mounted on the wall. She wore a dark green dressing gown over her nightdress, and something glimmered on her left hand.

"Well, if you must know-"

"_IF_ I MUST?!? _IF_?!?!" Sophia shouted, and Borislav wove his hand to quiet her.

"Quiet down, do you want to wake the whole country up?"

"NO, I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU SAID _IF_!!!" Sophia shouted again, a murderous expression on her face. Her blue eyes flashed dangerously, and Borislav took a small step backwards so that he was flattened against the wall of the hallway. Sophia was panting with rage, about ready to hit him across the face, when he spoke.

"I take it back, alright? Just please calm down, and I'll tell you."

Sophia threw him a filthy look, but nodded. Borislav took a breath, then began to tell Sophia everything that had happened. However, as soon as he got to the part about how he killed Karina, a look of horror crossed Sophia face, and she swayed a little. Setting a hand on the wall to steady herself, the light caught on her wedding ring. It was on her left hand, along with the silver watch with the tiny emeralds set to form the letters S, E, and I. She gave a small, shuddering gasp, trying to calm herself.

** _He killed his sister._ **She said in her mind. How was she supposed to react to that?

"Something wrong?"

** _He killed his sister._**

Sophia fixed Borislav with an unreadable expression, and she tilted her head. She didn't quite know how to react to Borislav killing Karina, his own sister. It was even harder to realize that he intended to kill her...Sophia had a hard enough time realizing that she killed her sisters, and that was accidental! She looked down at the floor, left hand still on the wall. Her mind was swimming, and all she could do to keep from going into a rage was look down at the floor and set her right hand on the back of her neck. That always calmed her, that's what Sienna did when Sophia was angry at the age of eight. Now, here she was, at the age of thirty-eight, employing a tactic that had not been used in thirty years. It wasn't the same, but it was enough to calm Sophia so that she could keep her mind clear as she spoke.

"You killed your own sister?" She asked, surprised at how venomous and soft her voice was. Borislav didn't answer her. "You killed...your own sister?" She repeated, tearing her eyes up from the floor and glaring at Borislav...

Next thing she knew, she was crying. Borislav had a bewildered expression on his face, but he pulled Sophia into a hug in an attempt to calm her down. Sophia was visited by the urge to strangle him, but she was crying too hard to do anything except bury her face into his shoulder and ride out the mood swing. She had been having mood swings like this for at least a month, and she had only found out why earlier that day. The shock of it all, combined with the horrible confusion she felt, was enough to make her want to explode. She felt anger bubbling up inside her as the tears stopped, and again, she was visited by the urge to strangle Borislav. Without thinking, she pushed him away and retreated down the hallway.

"Hey, wait, where are you going?" He called after her. Sophia stopped at the end of the hallway and turned to look at him.

"Trust me, I'm doing this for your own safety."

"How so?" He asked. Sophia gave a moan of frustration and clapped a hand to her forehead. "Sophie, _what's wrong?_" Sophia sighed and looked down at the floor. After taking a deep breath, she looked back up at her husband and set her hands over her stomach. She was aware that she was trembling slightly, but that did not matter. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke.

"I'm pregnant."

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa watched Professor McGonagall as she explained the theory of human transfiguration with a slightly bored expression. The students in the classroom were all silent, hanging on to McGonagall's every word.

All of that was interrupted by a loud, frantic pounding on the door. McGonagall looked startled, as did half of the class.

"Come in." McGonagall said loudly, and the door swung open. Professor Snape stumbled into the room, looking as though he had run a marathon. He was trying to catch his breath as he staggered up to McGonagall, and he whispered something in her ear. A look of shock came over her face, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God! Miss Rei, you are to go with Professor Snape immediately. Bring your stuff with you, you are not going to be returning for a while."

Confused and worried, Larisa gathered up her stuff and threw Draco a bewildered look before following Snape out of the room. Anxiety began to bubble up inside her as Snape lead her towards Dumbledore's office, and numerous worries began to float through her mind. She had the worst feeling that something had happened, something bad.

"Acid pops." Snape said in a strained voice, and Larisa looked up from the floor to see that they had arrived at Dumbledore's office. The stone gargoyle leaped aside, and Snape ushered Larisa up the stairs. She was really scared as Snape knocked on the office door, and she suddenly became aware of the fact that she was trembling.

"Enter." Dumbledore said, and Snape pushed the door open. Larisa entered the office and looked around. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking extremely grave. Tonks was also there, sitting across from his desk, sobbing uncontrollably, and standing behind Dumbledore...

"Bella!" Larisa yelped, and Bellatrix rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug. Larisa noted that she looked as though she had been crying, much worse than usual. When Bellatrix released Larisa, she had fresh tears in her eyes as she moved to stand behind Larisa. Tonks stopped sobbing and looked up at Dumbledore, and the five in the room entered an unbearable silence. It seemed to press in on everyone, trying to make them implode. After what felt like years, Dumbledore spoke.

"Larisa, we are so very sorry to inform you of this, but," Dumbledore paused and looked at Larisa with a sad stare before taking a deep breath. With the horrible air of giving extremely bad news, he continued on. "Your Aunt Karina was murdered late last night by Death Eaters."

This silence was extremely loud as the words hit Larisa one by one, each feeling like a knife. She blinked, half expecting someone to say 'April fools!', but no one did. The words spun through Larisa's mind, echoing each other off of the corners of her mind. Larisa found herself unable to speak or breathe; it was as if she had had the wind knocked out of her. After a few seconds of the horrible, vibrating silence, Larisa was able to find her voice. She was only able to form one word, though, the shock was so great.

"_Prokleenaht..._" She whispered, swaying dangerously. With a great, shuddering gasp, she promptly fainted.

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa's mismatched eyes fluttered open, and she found herself staring up at the ceiling of the front room at Lestrange Manor. As her sense of touch returned to her, she discovered that she was on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket. Turning onto her side, she came face to face with a pair of large, blue eyes. Larisa gave a small yelp and slid backwards a little, but Fiona the house elf bowed to her.

"Miss Lestrange wanted me to watch over you while she was out. She has gone to the Russian Ministry of Magic with her sister Andromeda to discuss some things. She has brought along the third memory she sent you back when you were fourteen in an attempt to get her name cleared. She will return shortly, but until then, I am to stay by you at all times." Fiona said, standing up straight. Larisa blinked, then sat up and rubbed her eyes. Weak sunlight was coming in through the window, thick clouds forming outside. Larisa slowly became aware of the pounding headache she had, and it was more painful in the back of her head. Absentmindedly, she rubbed the spot, only to feel more intense pain got shooting through her.

"Ugh..." She moaned.

"Miss Lestrange tells me that you fainted while in Headmaster Dumbledore's office. She tried to catch you, but you fell too fast and hit your head on the ground. You have been out for six hours." Fiona said, answering Larisa's unasked question and bowing again. "Is there anything I could get for you?"

"A mirror so I can check my eyes." Larisa mumbled, her head pounding. She propped her elbows on her knees and rested her head in her hands as the house-elf Disapparated with a loud _crack_. Larisa flinched at the noise; little noises were bothering her. As she sat alone in the room, the reason why she was there popped into her mind so fast it hurt. That made her remember why her head was even hurting in the first place, why she had fainted...

Karina was gone. Forever. The whole realization of it struck Larisa painfully, and she tried to push it from her mind. This was met by a painful throb from the back of her head, and Larisa vibrated slightly as her mind began to swim again.

** _She's gone. She's never coming back. Ever. Nothing you can do can bring her back. It's over._**

Larisa again tried to shut her mind down, but the back of her head hurt even more. She could not longer control her own thoughts as they spiraled out of control like a runaway train.

** _She's gone forever, murdered by the people she worked against. She'll never come back. She'll never talk to you again, never answer your questions, never explain things you never knew to you again..._**

Tears slid down Larisa's face. Bitterly, she rubbed them off, but they just kept falling like raindrops. Fiona Apparated back into the room, mirror in hand, and Larisa hurriedly wiped her tears away. Fiona held up the mirror for Larisa, and she looked carefully at her eyes. Her pupils were normal, assuring her that she didn't have a concussion.

"Thank you, Fiona." She said. Her voice was hollow, deadened, like her father's eyes...

** _Borislav._**

The shock flew at Larisa so hard that it made her cry out in pain and clutch the back of her head, trying to ease the pain that was eating away at her. It all fell into place as Larisa vividly remembered various entries of Sophia's diary, all the pieces falling together.

_**...and he's sworn to set her straight someday.**_

_**Borislav is determined to get his hands on the wand Karina used...**_

_**...but he shook his head and told me his family would be better off without her.**_

"Oh my God..." Larisa said breathlessly. It was as if some horrible, bloodthirsty monster had roared to life inside Larisa, screaming and roaring for Karina to be avenged. It kicked wildly inside her mind, throwing a complete tantrum as the color rose in Larisa's face until she was a nasty shade of pink. She felt hot, dizzy, and angry as she got to her feet, drawing her wand and making her way towards the door like a sleepwalker.

Instantly, she stopped short. Her hand was on the doorknob, about to turn it.

** _Karina walked through this door in January..._**

The creature seemed to fall asleep, and Larisa dropped her wand as she slumped against the door and slid to the floor, crying hysterically. Her mind began to swim again, putting the creature into a deeper sleep.

** _I'm losing it...I'm really losing it. I'm going to be as insane as Sophia someday..._**

This thought made Larisa curl into a ball, rocking back and forth as she cried. Had Sophia been involved? Had she been there, by her husband's side as he killed his own sister?

** _No..._ **Larisa suddenly thought.** _No, she couldn't handle accidentally killing her own sisters. She'd rather die than help Borislav kill his own sister..._**

This thought made Larisa cry harder. Why, she didn't know. She could only realize that she never knew about how siblings acted towards each other; _she_ was an only child. No older siblings to talk to, no younger siblings to play with. Borislav had been lucky; _he_ had had an older sister who cared about him, despite the huge age difference. Sophia was lucky; _she_ had had two sisters who she loved, and they had loved her. What did Larisa have? Nothing, except a life of a complete, living hell. Until this moment, she never really realized how much she hated being an only child. She guessed it was because she was always independent, able to play on her own. Somehow, though, she became dependent on those around her. Whether it was because her world was smashing down around her, or because there was so much she didn't know how to do, she didn't know. As she sat there on the floor crying her eyes out, Fiona came over and pat her lightly on the back.

"There there," She croaked. "This will heal over with time."

"No it won't." Larisa mumbled. The pain she felt was worse than any emotional pain she ever had to go through, and she didn't like it at all.

"You're right...You will never fully recover from this whole ordeal, but you will still get to a point where you can smile and laugh again," Fiona said, still patting Larisa on the back. "I promise."

From behind them, in the fireplace, green flames sprang up. Larisa looked up and rubbed some tears away from her eyes so she could see properly as a figure tumbled out of the fire. Tears still slid down Larisa's face as Narcissa straightened up and looked around, her eyes coming to rest on Larisa.

"H-hi, Cissy..." Larisa stuttered, and Narcissa rushed over.

"I just heard wh-what happened. I'm s-so sorry!" Narcissa cried as she helped Larisa to her feet and hugged her. Unshed tears slid down Larisa's face, and Narcissa pat her on the back. "Shhh, calm down...Do you know where Bella is?"

"Moscow," Larisa murmured. "She's gone to the Russian Ministry of Magic with Andromeda."

"Andromeda?"

"In light of recent events," Larisa said loudly, growing frustrated. "You should put aside your differences for once and open your eyes!" Angrily, she squirmed out of Narcissa's grasp and set off at a brisk pace around the room. "Karina was a blood traitor, but you still liked her! Bella is a blood traitor, and you still readily admit you two are related! _I'm a blood traitor, and you still like me!_" Larisa stopped and turned to face Narcissa, who looked a little stunned at Larisa's sudden outburst. "Who cares about blood purity? We're all human! Just because someone is a muggleborn doesn't mean that they aren't as magical as purebloods! Muggles can't do magic, so what? They aren't any lower than us! We're equal!" Larisa stomped over to the couch and sat back down, covering her face with her hands and bursting into tears again. Narcissa remained where she stood, looking utterly bewildered and teetering on the edge of speech. When Larisa regained some of her ability to speak, she uncovered her face and looked up at Narcissa with a pained expression. "I'm sorry, it's just that...I deduced who killed Karina."

Just saying her name made Larisa want to cry even more, but she fought off the urge to do so.

"Who?" Narcissa asked.

"Borislav." Larisa spat, and at once, the creature sprang awake, kicking and clawing it's way to her thoughts. Again, some of Larisa's grief was transformed into a savage urge to avenge Karina. With a huge effort, she forced it to quiet down.

"Her own brother...?" Narcissa said, her voice quiet. Larisa gave a stiff nod, her head starting to throb again. Narcissa gasped and clutched at her heart, leaning against the wall. Larisa stared straight ahead in a stony silence, watching out the window. It had begun to snow, and the wind was blowing. The clock struck six in the evening, and still no one moved.

"They should be back soon," Larisa said softly, staring straight ahead. "It's around nine o'clock in Moscow. They're three hours ahead of us."

As soon as she said this green flames sprang up in the fire again, and Andromeda came tumbling out of the fireplace. Larisa kept looking out the window, trying to quiet the bloodthirsty creature that was still kicking and clawing at her mind. Andromeda looked around the room, which was darkening slowly, then extracted her wand from a large bag she was carrying and flicked it. The lights came to life just as green flames erupted in the fire yet again, and this time, Bellatrix tumbled out, nearly knocking Andromeda over. She was clutching a rolled up piece of parchment as though it was a lifeline as she stumbled over to Larisa.

"I know I shouldn't ask you to do this, but...Could you translate this?" She asked.

"Sure, things can't get any worse..." Larisa said, taking the parchment and unrolling it. She cleared her throat, then read it aloud, translating from Russian to English. "'We, the Russian Ministry of Magic, hereby find Mrs. Bellatrix Druella Lestrange, Mr. Rodolphus Lestrange, and Mr. Rabastan Lestrange innocent of all charges against them in the country of Russia. Signed by Veronika Magecyehsky, Russian Minister of Magic'..." The parchment slipped between her fingers, and she looked up at Bellatrix. "Cl-cleared?"

"Yes. Under Russian law...I'm cleared of all charges."

There was a ringing silence as Larisa bent over and picked up the parchment from the floor. She read it over again, then looked up at Bellatrix.

"_Druella?!_"

"Oh, be quiet." Bellatrix snapped, and despite the awful sadness that clung to everyone in the room, they burst out laughing. Even Bellatrix cracked a smile, and the bloodthirsty creature in Larisa's mind stopped kicking and screaming, then curled up for a nap.

* * *

**Alright, now who honestly freaked out a little in the beginning of this chapter?**** Oh, and there is no 'creature' in Larisa's head. That's just a representation of insane, crazy, mad, unexplainable rage.**

**Russian to English translation:**

**_Prokleenaht_- Damn  
_Magecyehsky_- Play on the Russian word _Mahgeechyyeahskeey_, which means 'magic'.**

**READ&REVIEW&TAKE THE POLL. PLEASE. -puppydog eyes-  
**


	17. Flashbacks

**Warning 1: This chapter is, again, very angsty. Possibly a little worse than the last chapter, in my opinion.**

**Warning 2: Many things in this chapter will be said in Russian. A translation will be provided in the end.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**

**~*~*~Chapter Seventeen: Flashbacks~*~*~**

Larisa blinked awake. It was near six in the morning the next day, and there were voices coming from downstairs. Snow was still floating gently down to the ground, which had snow all over it. For a minute, Larisa foolishly thought all she had gone through yesterday was just a horrible, horrible nightmare, and that any minute, she'd wake up and head to breakfast in the Great Hall. She even pinched herself to be sure.

It wasn't a dream.

Sighing, fresh tears came to Larisa's eyes. As she sat up, the back of her head began to hurt again. She groaned and clapped a hand to the hurt spot, rubbing it slightly in an attempt to ease the pain. As she rubbed it, she began to remember all that had happened yesterday...She had fainted in Dumbledore's office, and had somehow been brought to Lestrange Manor. While she was with the house-elf, she deduced that Borislav killed Karina...

As soon as she thought of her father's name, the bloodthirsty creature raised it's head and snarled before it began to crawl towards Larisa's thoughts. It arrived in record time, screaming for Borislav's painful demise. With a huge effort, Larisa tried to quiet it. The effort made her head hurt more, and the creature began to slowly take over, cutting off all of Larisa's sense of reason and understanding, replacing it with insane rage and the desire to cause pain...

** _Karina wouldn't have wanted me to kill Borislav...Would she? I'll never know, because of him._ **Her thoughts were running away again, and the creature began to take total control. Unable to control herself, Larisa got to her feet and picked up her wand. She felt hot, dizzy, and murderous as she stood there, swaying slightly, her wand held tight in her hand. Her fingernails were digging into her skin, and she was a vivid shade of pink. She began to vibrate slightly, her mouth twisting into a murderous snarl as her mind began to swim. Like a sleepwalker, she tried to take a step, but she lost her balance. Her wand slid from her grasp and clattered to the ground, rolling away as she fell on the floor with a dull _thud_.

** _Was that what Karina's body sounded like when she hit the floor?_** She asked herself, curling up and hugging herself. Her eyes began to water, and tears slid down her face. Larisa never felt so alone or so vulnerable in her life, and it was scary. She had been a fearless, brave girl, independent and free-spirited, able to take care of herself to a certain point. Now, she was a sixteen year old, lying on her bedroom floor, a broken spirit, unsure of where to turn for help. The years of pain and suffering were all suddenly flying back a her in painful flashbacks, hitting her one by one, each feeling like a punch in the face...

** _A three-year-old girl with short white hair and a black streak skipped into the kitchen, where a woman of about twenty-five sat, her face covered with her hands as she cried. Her black hair fell over her shoulders like a shimmering dark waterfall, and she lifted her face to look at the three-year-old girl. Her eyes were a very dark blue color, but they were red and puffy._**

_** "Vat eez vrong, mummy?" The three-year-old asked. The woman closed her eyes and shook her head, then started to cry again.**_

"No...No, not that..." Larisa murmured, turning onto her back slightly as her eyes flew shut and she covered them with her hands. "Anything but that memory..."

** _The three-year-old took a small step towards the woman, a slightly concerned expression on her pale face._**

_** "**__**Mummy**__**?" She asked, a little louder this time. The woman started to shudder violently, and she shook her head. "**__**Mummy**__**!" Behind her, a door slammed, and a man of about twenty-six with deadened green eyes and short blonde hair entered the room, a grave look on his face.**_

_** "Leave your mother alone," He snapped, and the three-year-old jumped and scrambled out of his way as he made his way over to the woman. "The Healers couldn't do anything to save her. She's gone." **_

_** The woman howled, then started to cry even harder.**_

"No..." Larisa murmured, turning back onto her side.

** _The man helped the woman to her feet and put his arms around her as the woman pressed her face into his shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably._**

_** "**_**Oospokoysyah****.**_**" He said softly, and the woman shook her head. The three-year-old stood in the doorway, looking bewildered.**_

_** "Vat 'appened?" She asked. Nobody answered her. "Vat 'appened?"**_

"No...Stop..." Larisa murmured, a little louder this time as she rolled onto her back.

_**"**_**Pahpah, chyto sloochyeelos?**_**" The three-year-old snapped angrily, stamping her foot. The woman lifted her head to look at the girl.**_

_** "Grandma Sabine eez dead." She whispered before bursting into tears and burying her face in the man's shoulder again.**_

"_NYEHT! NYEHT!_" Larisa screamed, sitting up, her mismatched eyes flying open. The creature seemed to die a little, and it roared it's displeasure before curling up for a nap while Larisa completely lost her head and fell back onto the floor, screaming and crying as if her life depended on it. She hated that memory; it was scary to see Sophia as upset and vulnerable as Larisa was now, it was scary to see Borislav was almost human. Most of all, it was scary for Larisa that she suddenly felt sorry for Sophia, sorrier than she could ever feel towards the woman who wanted her dead for a multitude of reasons...

"Calm down, calm down...I'm right here, it was just a nightmare..."

Larisa didn't notice Bellatrix enter the room, nor was she aware that Bellatrix had somehow gotten her off the floor and was now sitting on the bed, holding her and rocking her back and forth ever so slightly.

"It wasn't a dream," Larisa somehow managed to say. "It happened when I was three."

"What happened?" Bellatrix ask softly.

"Sophia's mum died. Sophia was crying, and Borislav seemed almost human..." Larisa said, shuddering. "It was bloody awful..."

After several more minutes, Bellatrix slowly released Larisa, who was still trembling and had a look of fear on her face.

"Come on, lets get you downstairs." Bellatrix said, getting up and grabbing Larisa's dressing gown. She helped Larisa put it on, then half-carried, half-helped Larisa out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Andromeda pulled a chair out for Larisa and Bellatrix helped her into it, while Narcissa gave Bellatrix a bewildered look. "She had a really nasty flashback." Bellatrix said, answering Narcissa's unasked question.

"So that's what all the screaming was?" Andromeda asked, her voice horribly strained. Bellatrix nodded, the busied herself with making tea. Larisa was still trembling, wringing her hands. She was whiter than the snow outside, and her eyes were red and dulled.

** _A five-year-old girl with her shoulder length white hair tied up in pigtails was sitting up in bed, coloring, while a woman in lime green robes sat in a chair, watching her._**

"Oh, not again..." Larisa murmured, gripping the table tightly as she closed her eyes.

** _The girl with pigtails looked up from the parchment she was scribbling on, then held it up to show the Healer._**

_** "Pretty?" The girl asked, tilting her head. The Healer nodded, and the girl slowly lowered the parchment so she could continue her scribbling. A door in the room opened, and another Healer came into the room.**_

_** "How is she doing?" The Healer asked.**_

_** "She's doing well...The Cruciatus Curse, and by her own father...And her mother didn't even try to stop him!" The Healer next to the girl answered, closing her eyes and shaking her head.**_

_** "Her mother, Sophia, is here. In tears, too, apparently the Wizengamot found her husband guilty of the use of the Cruciatus Curse on their daughter, and an attempted Killing Curse. They also found he was a Death Eater, and willingly, at that." The second Healer said before sighing. "It makes me wonder whether or not the Russian Ministry is protecting old Death Eaters."**_

_** "That's a very good possibility...They didn't crack down on the entire Irli family, and you know how immersed in the Dark Arts **_**they****_ are."_**

"Hell yes..." Larisa breathed. Her eyes were still shut, and she still had a death grip on the edge of the table.

** _"Well, the Irli's kept dropping like flies towards the end of the seventies. Seraphina died here back in 1977, and the only Irli's to survive past 1980 were Sabine and Sophia, and Sabine died here just two years ago! Plus, Sophia doesn't look evil."_**

"Looks can be deceiving." Larisa murmured.

** _"Either way, I think she should be allowed to see her daughter," The Healer next to Larisa said, and she turned to her. "What do you think? You want to see your mummy?"_**

_** "**_**Dah****_!" Larisa said, and the Healers both laughed. The second Healer turned to leave, and Larisa continued to scribble on her parchment. After a few minutes, the second Healer returned, a woman with long black hair with her. The woman's eyes were red, as if she had been crying, and she was stony-faced. The first Healer and the second Healer left, and the black-haired woman sat down in the chair and stared off into space. "Mummy?"_**

_** "Yes?" The woman asked in a strained voice, still staring off into space. Larisa held out the parchment that she had been scribbling on. The woman extended a shaking hand, and she took the parchment. She looked it over, and a small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "**_**Spahseebo.**_**"**_

Larisa's eyes flew open, and, very stiffly, she released the table. She didn't quite clearly remember that event, being that her mind had been affected by the Cruciatus Curse a little, and she had been so young at the time. Seeing that Sophia once did care was a little too much for Larisa to handle, and she covered her face. Bellatrix asked no questions, but she stood behind Larisa as she slumped in her chair. She pat Larisa on the shoulder in a motherly sort of way, then went to pour out some tea. Larisa uncovered her face when Bellatrix set the cup down in front of her, and everyone remained silent, lost in her own thoughts.

Larisa was probably the most lost of them all.

**&%$&%$&%$**

"You wished to speak with me?" Voldemort asked, and Sophia nodded. She was paler than usual, and her eyes were red. Nervously, she wrung her hands, looking down at the ground. It was hard and frosty, and snow was lightly drifting down from the clouds overhead. A strong gust of wind blew her hair back slightly, and she blinked as some tears formed in her eyes. "And why are you crying? Do you happen to miss that Karina woman who died yesterday?"

"I don't know...I'm not sure of anything anymore, and yesterday, I found something out. Something that could alter my Death Eater abilities..." Sophia murmured.

"Well, what is it?" Voldemort asked, sounding mildly interested. Sophia somehow managed to look him in the eye, her breathing heavy. She pulled her cloak a little tighter around herself, shivering as another gust of wind blew by.

"I'm pregnant." She whispered, and the whole world seemed to mute. Voldemort looked as though something heavy had hit him in the back of the head as he blinked at her, as if she'd tell him it was all a joke. He rose a non-existent eyebrow at her, and she merely looked right back at him, no fear in her eyes.

"How far along are you?"

"A month."

Again, the world seemed to mute.

"Well, in that case, you will not be sent out on any missions. You still need to attend Death Eater meetings, and leave your vicious mood swings at the door."

"I don't think that's possible, my Lord..." Sophia murmured so that Voldemort couldn't hear her.

* * *

**Russian-English Translation:**

**_Pahpah, chyto sloochyeelos?_- Daddy, what happened?_  
NYEHT!_- NO!****_  
Spahseebo._- Thank you.****_  
Dah._- Yes.**_**  
Oospokoysyah**_**_._- Calm down.**

**I can't think of something witty to say, so I will say this: _Nikogda ne shchekotatʹ spyashchego drakona. _('Never tickle a sleeping dragon'...IN RUSSIAN. Cool, eh?)**

**(Read&Review&Take the poll)  
**


	18. News

**Warning: One thing in this chapter will be said in Russian. Look back at the translation for chapter 16 for the translation.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**

**~*~*~Chapter Eighteen: News~*~*~**

Larisa's mismatched eyes flew open, and she stared up at the ceiling of her room. She didn't check to see if any of the week's events were horrible nightmares; she knew better already. The only horrible nightmares she had been having the entire week were flashbacks. Again, she had to relive the day Borislav tried to kill her when she was five, Bellatrix's trial, and her first day at Hogwarts...

Shuddering, Larisa sat up. She felt cold, tired, and angry. The homicidal and bloodthirsty creature lifted it's head and yawned, ready for another day of causing pain and anger. Irritated, Larisa beat it down before crawling out of bed and pulling her dressing gown on. It did not help warm Larisa up, but she left it on, anyway. Slowly, she trudged out of her room and down to the kitchen. Bellatrix was sitting at the table, holding a cup of tea in her trembling hands. A copy of the day's _Daily Prophet_ sat in front of her.

"Morning," Bellatrix murmured, setting her tea down and pulling her dressing gown a little tighter around herself. "It's cold, isn't it?"

"I find that you're always cold when you're grieving." Larisa said quietly, sitting down.

"Any nightmares you need to talk about?"

"No, just more flashbacks..." Larisa said, shuddering. "Honestly, I wish there was something that could at least stop the flashbacks from happening while I'm awake. It's going to affect me badly when I go back to school...And I'm sure my patronus has changed again."

"Well, lets find out, shall we?" Bellatrix asked, pulling her wand out. Larisa did the same, and pointed her wand at nothing in particular.

"_Expecto Patronum__!_" She cried, and a bright white crow soared out of her wand tip and flew around the table. Bellatrix followed it with her eyes.

"Nice...I like it better than the panther._Expecto Patronum__!_" A bright white dove joined the crow in flying around the table. A strange warmth spread over the two witches as their eyes followed their respective patronuses, which circled over their heads slowly. As Larisa watched hers, her pupils seemed to contract, and she could almost hear it's crowing...

** _A crow cawed in the distance as a twelve-year-old girl with her long white hair up in pigtails sat down in the grass and looked up at the sky. She fiddled with the left cuff of her blood-red school robes, deep in thought about something. The sound of a flag flapping in the wind reached her ears, and then the sound of footsteps._**

_** "Oi!" A girl's voice called, and the girl with pigtails groaned and looked over her shoulder to see a tall, dark-haired girl walking towards her, followed by a group of more girls, all who were giggling at the bewildered look the girl with pigtails had.**_

_** "Vot do you vant, Aurora?"**_

_** "Oh, nothing," The dark-haired girl said tauntingly. "I just wanted to tell you zat your 'air looks funny." The girls behind Aurora all laughed, and the girl with pigtails turned a delicate shade of pink.**_

_** "And vy do you constantly antagonize me?"**_

_** "Oh, Larisa, eet iz your 'air zat bothers me so. Eet iz so ugly." Aurora taunted, earning more giggles from her friends. Larisa flushed a vivid shade of pink and got to her feet. The girls all just laughed, pointing and gibbering away at Larisa's height. She was tiny; only four and a half feet tall and very thin.**_

_** "Stop eet! I may be small, but I haff ze ability..." Larisa drew her wand, pointing it at Aurora.**_

_** "Spare us, spare us!" Aurora shrieked in mock agony, still laughing. Larisa looked close to tears now, teetering on the edge of losing control...**_

_** "**_**Impedimenta****!**_**" She shrieked, and Aurora dodged the jinx, her gloating smile falling into a deadly snarl.**_

_**"Karkaroff vill not be happy zat you haff been jinxing students...**_**Petrificus Totalus****!**_**" Aurora snarled, and Larisa dodged the curse.**_

_** "He vill also not be happy zat you haff been taunting me aga-"**_

_** "**_**Expelliarmus****!**_**" Aurora said gleefully, and Larisa's wand shot into the air and landed near a fourth year, who picked it up. "Now zen..."**_

_** Larisa put her hands up in defeat, waiting for the jinx, when...**_

_** "Vot ze hell is going on heer?" The fourth year had come over to them, and he was holding Larisa's wand.**_

_** "Just playing." Aurora simpered, and the fourth year narrowed his eyes.**_

_** "Back up to ze castle, now." He snapped, and Aurora and her friends ran back up to the castle, cackling madly. He then turned to Larisa and handed her her wand. "Are you alright?"**_

_** "I believe so..." Larisa murmured, taking her wand back. "Zank you...?"**_

_** "Viktor. Viktor Krum." The boy said, holding out his hand and shaking Larisa's. "And you are?"**_

_** "Larisa Helena Rei."**_

Larisa's eyes flew open, and she released the table.

"Well, that was the first flashback that wasn't totally traumatizing..." She muttered, and Bellatrix leaned back in her chair.

"What happened?"

"I got into a small duel with an old classmate of mine, back when I was a first year, and she was about to curse me, when Viktor Krum came over and stopped her." Larisa murmured, propping her elbows on the table and resting her head in her hands. "I really don't like having flashbacks, even if they aren't totally traumatizing."

"Well, it's scary, needing to relive things that may or may not have contributed to making your life a living hell."

"Duh." Larisa said, when the Mark burned. Larisa and Bellatrix both looked at each other, unable to understand why Voldemort would be calling a meeting this early.

"I don't want you going," Bellatrix said suddenly, the 'concerned parent' look showing on her face. "I'm certain that Borislav will be there, and I don't want you near him, or the Dark Lord."

"I'd like nothing more than to meet Borislav..." Larisa said savagely, her tone a soft, deadly hiss. The bloodthirsty creature reared it's ugly head, roaring it's approval at Larisa's words. Bellatrix arched an eyebrow, silence pressing in on them.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to fight him."

"Can I intimidate him?"

"Sure," Again, the Mark burned. "Hurry up and get ready."

With that, they both rose and rushed to their respective bedrooms. Larisa rummaged around in her drawers until she found her Death Eater robes, and she threw them on over her head before grabbing her mask and wand. She felt light-headed and warm as she stumbled over the hem of her robes as she walked out of her room, when the whole realization of what was about to happen came to light...

**_I'm about to be within fifty feet of Borislav..._**

At once, the creature gave a roar of delight. The color rose in Larisa's face until she was flushed a sinister shade of pink, and she stumbled again. She felt herself growing increasingly warmer, and she continued to stumble as she made her way down the stairs. When she finally somehow got to the front hallway, she nearly knocked into Bellatrix. Her mind was swimming; all sense of reason gone, most grief transformed, yet again, into homicidal instincts.

"Larisa, are you feeling alright?" Bellatrix asked, grabbing onto Larisa's shoulders and shaking her a little. Larisa seemed to snap out of the trance she had gone into, and Bellatrix released her.

"I think so..." She murmured, the color draining out of her face until she was at her normal deathly pale state. Without another word, she grabbed Bellatrix's arm, and they turned on the spot and Disapparated.

**&%$&%$&%$**

Bellatrix and Larisa appeared out of nowhere in the garden of Malfoy Manor with a faint _pop_. Holding her firmly by the wrist, Bellatrix lead Larisa up to the front door and pushed it open.

"Why are you holding onto me?" Larisa asked in a whisper as they made their way down the hall.

"So I can be sure that you don't make an attempt on Borislav's life. You're much too young to take him on." Bellatrix explained, also in a whisper. The 'concerned parent' look flew in Larisa's direction, and Bellatrix nearly walked into the door of the drawing room because of her momentary distraction.

"This is it." Larisa whispered, staring blankly at the door.

"Now, don't get mouthy, don't make attempts on anyone's life, and for God's sake, keep away from Borislav."

"Yes mum...I mean, Bella..." Larisa quickly corrected herself. Bellatrix's hand contracted on Larisa's wrist, her wedding ring digging into Larisa's skin, and then she released Larisa. With only a second of hesitation, Larisa pushed the door open.

There was a long table with chairs around it, but only Narcissa and Sophia were sitting. Sophia had her head in her arms, fast asleep. The rest of the Death Eaters in the room were all milling about, talking with each other. It struck Larisa as odd that Sophia was asleep at a Death Eater meeting, and more odd to see that she was wearing, not Death Eater robes, but a faded blue sweater with a green snake worked onto the front, coiling into an 'S', and a black skirt. Larisa thought she looked a lot younger in this outfit, around eighteen or nineteen, instead of thirty-eight. She didn't notice that Narcissa had come over to them until Bellatrix tapped her on the shoulder.

"What?" Larisa asked, turning to face the sisters.

"Staring at that insolent little worm," Bellatrix nodded at Sophia's sleeping form. "For too long will cause your eyes to burn out." Larisa gave a snort of laughter, and Sophia stirred in her sleep. "Speaking of which, why isn't she in her Death Eater robes?"

"That's what I'm wondering..." Narcissa said, peering at Sophia. "She just showed up for the meeting, sat down, and fell asleep. She also appears to be putting on a little weight...Makes me wonder if she's...Nah, she can't be..." Narcissa pursed her lips and said no more on the matter. Larisa felt herself grow increasingly confused, and, judging by the look on her face, Bellatrix was, as well. Before either witch could say anything, the door swung open.

"In your seats, now," Voldemort commanded, sweeping into the room and taking his place at the head of the table as the assorted Death Eaters scrambled to their seats. "Borislav, wake your wife up." Voldemort added, noticing the Sophia was still asleep despite the loud scraping of chairs on the floor.

"Yes, my Lord," Borislav murmured, and Larisa's pupils contracted as her father set a hand on Sophia's shoulder and gave her a small shake. "Sophie, time to wake u-OW!"

Larisa gave a shrill cackle as Sophia slapped Borislav hard on the wrist and murmured something inaudible before going back to sleep. Several other Death Eaters snickered, and even Voldemort couldn't contain a smile. When the laughter died down, Voldemort turned to Larisa.

"You're turn." He snapped, jerking his head at Sophia. Larisa stood up and walked around the table, the creature snarling as she stopped right between her parents. Silently, she bent over until her mouth was inches from Sophia's ear.

"Sophia..." She whispered, and Sophia stirred a little. "Guess what?"

"What..?" Sophia mumbled sleepily. Larisa thought she smelled strawberries, but she pushed that from her mind and concentrated on what she was about to do...

"THE DEATH EATERS ARE COMING, THE DEATH EATERS ARE COMING!!!" She screamed before diving under the table, and Sophia sat up so fast that she nearly knocked her chair over, looking around wildly. Larisa arrived back in her chair in record time, sitting and staring at the table as if nothing had happened. When Sophia was able to gain control of herself, her eyes traveled around the table, looking at all of the Death Eaters.

"Too late, they're here." She mumbled, and she slumped in her chair a little. A few Death Eaters snickered, and then there was a split second of silence before Voldemort began to talk, but Larisa wasn't paying attention. There was something about Sophia that struck her as odd, and it wasn't the fact that she wasn't wearing Death Eater robes. It was the fact that she looked a little ill, she didn't look her age, and her eyes weren't hazel anymore. They were instead a very deep blue color, the exact color of Larisa's left eye, and they had a red tint to them, as if she had been crying a lot. Her skin was nearly whiter than the snow outside, contrasting with her jet black hair, which seemed to suck all of the light out of the room. Various emotions were flicking through her eyes, from sudden sadness, to anger, to happiness, and back again. There was also a very slight bump on her stomach...

Larisa's heart seemed to fail as it all fell into place, and she fumbled to grasp the edge of the table so she didn't fall out of her chair. Instead of going completely white, she flushed a vivid shade of pink. Her mind became muddled, and she felt herself grow warmer and warmer with each passing second. The creature screamed louder than ever, and Larisa felt so confused that she could no longer hear, nor could she think straight.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" She said before she could stop herself. It was incredible that she was feeling so confused, but her voice was still calm, her tone still level. The room went completely silent, and Sophia sat up a little straighter, her eyes and Larisa's eyes meeting. The creature kicked and screamed, and it looked as though Sophia wasn't going to be talking anytime soon. "Well?"

Very stiffly, Sophia nodded.

Larisa's heart skipped several beats, and she reached up and pulled at her collar. Her breath seemed to freeze in her throat, and she wanted desperately to leave, to escape, to hide somewhere that she'd never be found. She felt ill, and shivers ran up her spine. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do? The silence was unbearable, the eyes of every Death Eater in the room on Larisa and Sophia.

"_Prokleenaht_..." Larisa whispered when she finally found her voice, slumping in her chair.

"_That's what he said when I told him._" Sophia said in Parseltounge, jerking her head towards Borislav.

"_Like I care,_" Larisa said, her words coming out in a rasping, hissing noise. "_You know he killed Karina? You know that he willingly killed her? You know that he was aware of his actions at the time? That is wasn't an accident? And you are still able to be in the presence of that bastard after what he's done?_"

"_You take that back!_" Sophia said in a strangled hiss, slamming her hands down on the table and standing up. Larisa knew she had gone way over the limit, yet she felt a thrill of excitement.

"_Nah, he doesn't deserve my respect. He killed his own sister-_"

"_SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!_"

"_If I must._" Larisa snarled, also getting to her feet. The Death Eaters all looked extremely bewildered by the outbreak of hissing, rasping, and snarling between the two witches, and only Voldemort seemed to know what they were saying.

"What're they saying?" Larisa heard a masked and hooded Death Eater ask in a whisper. Sophia instantly drew her wand and snapped around, pointing it at the Death Eater.

"_Crucio!_" She snapped, and the Death Eater toppled out of his chair and out of Larisa's rage of vision with a scream. Sophia didn't lift the curse immediately, but gave a short, maniacal laugh first. "Didn't like that, did you, Yaxley?"

"No..." Came Yaxley's slightly muffled voice from under the table.

"Serves you right!" Sophia said with another shrill laugh that sent shivers climbing up Larisa's spine.

"And what," Larisa asked in a low growl. "Is so funny about the Cruciatus Curse?"

"And what," Borislav asked, finally speaking. He rose from his seat, glaring at Larisa, who turned to face him. "Makes you think you can ask that?"

The creature gave a roar, and Larisa flushed a vivid pink again. She had wanted this, to come face to face with Borislav so she could inflict as much pain as she possibly could on him. Her hand slowly twitched towards her wand as she began to walk around the table. Bellatrix and Narcissa seemed frozen in their places, along with all of the other Death Eaters. Yaxley was still on the floor, whimpering.

"Funny you should ask. You see, I have a natural curiosity for things," Larisa said airily, pulling her wand out and beating it against her palm as she came to a halt in front of Borislav. "Things such as-_why the hell did you murder your own sister?_" Borislav looked as though something heavy had been dropped on his head as Larisa said this.

"And how exactly did you figure that out?"

"The clues are everywhere...Bastard."

"If you must know," Borislav said loudly. "She died-"

"_CRUCIO!!!_" Larisa screamed, and Borislav crumpled to the ground, the curse so powerful it knocked him out. The silence closed in on everyone again, and Yaxley sat up. Bellatrix was the first to react, standing up and coming over to Larisa, who was shaking with rage, her facial expression murderous.

"Come on, we're going home."

With a final filthy look down at Borislav and a surprised one at Sophia, Larisa turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, Bellatrix following. Voldemort was too stunned to realize that they had left.

* * *

**Some serious ownage has gone on in this chapter.**

**:D**

**(Read&Review&Take the poll)  
**


	19. Back to Russia

**Warning: Some things in this chapter will be said in Russian. A translation will be provided in the end.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**

**~*~*~Chapter Nineteen: Back to Russia~*~*~**

It was a week after the meeting, and Larisa had spent quite a bit of time up in her room, her mind spinning. Her whole life had just gotten much more confusing in those few days, and the creature was more prone to rear up and take hold. The flashbacks also occurred much more than usual, adding to Larisa's pain and anger. Little things would set one off, like a certain sound, sight, or smell, and sometimes nothing would set it off, and it would just happen. Though many weren't traumatic, they caused Larisa to feel extremely anxious. Larisa was now frequently under the watchful eye of Fiona, for Bellatrix kept Flooing over to the Russian Ministry to discuss something that was a complete mystery to Larisa. Whenever she brought their conversations around to that subject, Bellatrix would quickly change the subject. It was frustrating, but it paled next to the awful confusion and the flashbacks.

"As soon as this war is over," Larisa said angrily one particularly windy night after Bellatrix got back from Moscow. The two were sitting in the front room while Fiona made dinner. "I'm putting a suggestion through the Ministry to have a Wizarding therapist. Merlin knows I'd be the first customer."

"You'd be there before they even chose the therapist."

"Yes," Larisa said, nodding gravely before changing the subject. "So, why have you been Flooing over to Russia for the past week?" Larisa didn't expect the answer she got.

"Planning something...That reminds me, I need to get a message to Andromeda to get some muggle money..."

"For what?"

"A surprise," Bellatrix said, suddenly becoming very interested in her fingernails. "You'll like it...A little. It's sad, but happy..."

"So, it's something happy, but something sad will happen?"

"Exactly. It will start on the twenty-first, and the sad thing will happen on the twenty-eighth," She paused and pursed her lips about the date before continuing. "I've also written Severus, and he's going to make a potion that will stop the flashbacks while you're awake, which will help for this...event."

"What's the event?"

"I'll tell you later. You're not in the right emotional state to know."

Larisa slumped in her seat and folded her arms, a frustrated look on her pale face. There were too many mysteries in her life now.

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa turned on her side and looked at the clock. It was a few minutes past midnight, and sleep was evading Larisa. Frustrated, Larisa turned the lights on and picked up Sophia's diary. Licking her thumb, she turned to the eighth entry.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**February 26th, 1970**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_** This is a very big shock: I had a civil conversation with Bellatrix Black today. Scary, huh? Me being civil to an enemy. It's not my nature to have civil conversations with my enemies. Normally I just hex them. ANYWAY, she didn't have any reason to talk to me, she just wanted to talk! I was a little creeped out, but I still talked with her. We didn't talk about anything too major, mainly about what we want to do after school. Bellatrix aspires to be a stay-at-home mom after she gets married, and she wants a daughter more than anything. She even has a list of names!**_

_** When our talk got around to me and what I want to do after school, I gave it to her straight: I'm going to live at home, and get stuck into an arranged marriage at the age of nineteen. Yes, that is another tradition of the Irli family. The way my mum is, I'll probably get married the day after I turn nineteen (March 2nd, 1977 is my nineteenth birthday. The calender had been marked as my birthday AND my doomsday.). Bellatrix asked me if my parents would take my choice into account of who I'd like to marry, because her parents did for her and Lestrange.**_

_** No, my parents would not take my choice into account. We always marry our third to twelfth cousin, no matter what. Another Irli tradition (My parents were fifth cousins.). There is hope, though, because the only people in my family that are left are me, my dad, my mum, and my dad's younger sister, Seraphina. Seraphina's locked up in St. Mungo's, though, because she's a little crazy...**_

_** Scratch that, 'a little' is an understatement. Seraphina's nuttier than an acorn. Trust me on that one.**_

_** Ironically, the Rei family also has the same tradition where they marry their third to twelfth cousins, and the only ones left are Borislav, his parents, and his sister.**_

_** I'm doomed.  
Sophia**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

"No wonder I'm nuts..." Larisa muttered to herself as she read the entry. Larisa had always suspected that her paternal and maternal families had a habit of marrying their own cousins, but this was the living proof she needed. Slowly she closed the leather-bound book and set it on her nightstand, but she grabbed her muggle notebook and Self-Inking Quill first. Quickly, she turned to the second and third mystery pages.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**Mystery 2: Traditions and Traits in the Irli Family**_

_**TRAITS**_

_**-Signs of magic at two months  
-Early birthdays (January-Early March)  
-Slytherins  
-Dark Wizards and Witches  
-Parselmouths  
-Black hair (Sometimes white with a black streak)  
-Blue eyes (sometimes brown eyes)  
-Extremely violent and nasty tempers  
-Resistance to many curses  
-Highly advanced magical skills**_

_**TRADITIONS**_

_**-All girls with black hair get a same starting with 'S'.  
-All girls put into arranged marriage at age nineteen.  
-Arranged marriage to third-twelfth cousins.**_

_**Mystery 3: Creepy Traditions and Traits in the Rei Family**_

_**TRAITS**_

_**-Signs of magic at two months  
-Early birthdays (January-Early March)  
-Slytherins  
-Dark Wizards and Witches  
-Blonde hair  
-Green eyes (Sometimes purple, possibly)  
-Control of magic at an early age**_

_**TRADITIONS**_

_**-Arranged marriage to third-twelfth cousins.**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Satisfied with her work, Larisa set the notebook and quill on her nightstand, then shut the lights and curled up under the covers while still contemplating the diary entry. Another question burned it's way into Larisa's mind, and she knew it was going to be a sleepless night because of this and the fear of a flashback constantly working it's way into her mind.

Larisa's fear was valid, for suddenly her pupils seemed to grow larger, and she went rigid as she stared up at the ceiling fixedly...

** _The window was open in a small kitchen, and there were two people in it. One of them was a tall, black-haired woman with hazel eyes who looked to be about twenty-eight, and the other was a very short girl with her white hair up in pigtails, and she looked to be six years old. She had mismatched eyes (a blue left eye, and a brown right eye) and a certain carefree look about her. The tall woman looked slightly irritated as she scrubbed a dish in the sink, muttering to herself rapidly in Russian. The little girl pushed a chair over to the sink, then crawled on top of it so she was next to the woman, who looked at her out of the corner of her eyes._**

_** "Yes?" She asked. The little girl tilted her head, staring fixedly at the plate.**_

_** "Vitches can change ze color of plates?" The little girl asked, still staring at the plate.**_

_** "Yes, vitches can change ze color of plates." The woman answered, following the little girl's eyes to the plate.**_

_** "Vy can't I change ze plate color?" The tall woman seemed to freeze, and she turned her head so she could look at the little girl.**_

_** "You have not shown signs of magic yet. Ve vill not know if you are a vitch until you do."**_

_** "Vot kind of sign vould I show?"**_

_** "I do not know." The woman answered, and there was silence between the two. The tall woman continued to scrub the plate, and the little girl stared fixedly at it.**_

_** "I vill change ze color of zat plate. Zat vill be my sign." The girl said after a few minutes of silence. As soon as she said this, the plate turned from black to green, just like that. The woman stared down at it, then set it down and hugged the little girl.**_

_** "You did it, Larisa! You did it!" She said gleefully, and the little girl beamed.**_

Larisa's pupils shrunk slightly, and she found she was able to move again. Slowly, she undid the top button on the collar of her nightgown so she had more breathing room, then stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression. On the outside, she looked perfectly normal. On the inside, her mind was spinning so fast she was getting dizzy.

"Why me?" Larisa asked the silence, tears coming to her eyes. Why she was crying, she did not know. Perhaps it was the fact that she felt alone; no one else she knew had a relative willingly kill their own family member, no one else she knew had parents who wanted her dead, no one else she knew attracted strange objects that influenced their emotions, and no one she knew understood how angry, afraid, miserable, and confused she felt. Turning over, she pressed her face into her pillow and began to cry.

**&%$&%$&%$**

Larisa trudged into the kitchen the next morning, expecting Fiona to be in there to tell her that Bellatrix had gone to Moscow.

What she did not expect was to see Bellatrix sitting at the table with a rather short and stocky, pale woman with her white-blonde hair tied up in an elegant bun. She had light blue eyes, and she was carrying a thick folder. Upon seeing Larisa, she rose from her seat and crossed the room, holding her hand out to Larisa. When she spoke, her voice was heavily accented.

"Ah, yes, _privet_, Miss Larisa," She said, and Larisa grasped her hand briefly. "I am Veronika Magecyehsky, ze Russian Minister of Magic."

"_Privet,_" Larisa said simply, glancing over at Bellatrix. Bellatrix nodded encouragingly, and Larisa looked down at Magecyehsky, who was at least a head shorter than her.

"You are probably vondering vy I am here," Magecyehsky said, walking back to her seat. Larisa followed, sitting down next to Bellatrix. "You see, your Aunt Katerina's vill vas discovered yesterday. She left everyzing to you, and she has left special instructions to be buried vhere she vas born, vhich is in Moscow. Follow?"

Larisa nodded stiffly, and Magecyehsky continued on.

"I haff arranged for you to come to Moscow for your aunt's funeral. You vill arrive on ze tventy-first by Floo Powder, and you may choose to remain in Moscow as long as you want," Quickly, Magecyehsky glaced down at her watch. "Any questions may be ansvered ven you arrive. I haff a meeting wiff Rufus Scrimgeour in a few minutes."

"Why?" Larisa asked before she could stop herself. Magecyehsky gave her a quizzical look, and to Larisa's great astonishment, Magecyehsky answered.

"I see zat you are a veddy sharp girl. Vell, I vill tell you, Scrimgeour is furious wiff me. Ze rest of ze information is confidential," With that, she rose from her seat and crossed the room. "I vill see you on ze tventy-first. My office._ Do svidaniya!_"

"_Do svidaniya._" Larisa said with a small wave as Magecyehsky swept out of the room. As soon as they heard her vanish into the fire, Larisa turned in her seat to face Bellatrix. "You'll need a very heavy fur coat."

"I'll see what we've got in the attic...But first...FI-" Bellatrix said, when there was a loud crack, and Fiona appeared in the room.

"Kill the spiders in the attic?" She asked before Bellatrix could speak again.

"Yes...How'd...?"

"You've lived here for twelve of the almost twenty-six years you've been married. I think I'd know if you were an arachnophobic person by now." Fiona bowed, then Disapparated.

"Twenty-six years?!"

"Almost."

**&%$&%$&%$**

After waiting on pins and needles for several days, Larisa had everything packed and ready. Bellatrix had managed to find two heavy fur coats in the attic, Larisa already wearing hers. She was pacing around the front room, impatient. She was itching to get going, but there was a half hour left until the Russian Ministry opened, Moscow time. Bellatrix was also in the room, but she was staring out the window as if she was waiting for someone. Snow was falling gently, and the window kept frosting over. Bellatrix kept wiping it off with her sleeve, her eyes fixed on a point beyond the enchantments.

The minute hand inched closer to the twelve on the clock, and Larisa felt excitement building up inside her. Despite her sadness, anger, and grief, she couldn't help but feel excited about the fact that she was returning to her home country.

There were fifteen minutes to go, and Bellatrix had her nose pressed against the window. Larisa was staring fixedly at the clock, waiting, watching...

"I swear to God, if they are not here in five minutes..." Bellatrix said to herself, but Larisa still heard her.

"Who's coming?"

"Well, you'll find out in at most five minutes..." Bellatrix replied, and Larisa dropped the subject and looked back at the clock. "AHA!!"

"What?" Larisa asked, standing on tiptoe so she could see over Bellatrix's shoulder. Three figures were making their way up to the front door. Bellatrix was gone in a flash towards the front door, and there was the sound of it opening.

"You're late."

"Well, sor-ry. You try putting coats like these on!" A muffled voice Larisa couldn't quite recognize replied.

"They're just like any other coat, Cissy. Just a whole lot bulkier." Bellatrix said.

"And harder to move in."

"You'll need to get used to it, Cissy, I've been reading. It can get well below freezing in Moscow during the winter." Another muffled voice replied, and there were footsteps towards the door into the room. Bellatrix then entered, followed by three figures that were in the process of removing their scarves.

"Indeed," Larisa replied, extracting her gloves from her pocket and pulling them on. Quickly, she glanced up at the clock. "Magecyehsky will be ready for us in five minutes..."

"Who?"

"The Russian Minister of Magic. She's very nice." Larisa said, turning to see it was Draco who had spoken. "You'll like her if you can understand her accent..."

"Oh, this is going to be fun."

"Vell, can you understand me?" Larisa asked, switching accents.

"Yes."

"Then you'll be fine...It's six in the morning! Time to go!" Larisa said, looking up at the clock.

"Alright, calm down..." Bellatrix said, pulling her coat on and waving her wand. All of their luggage promptly vanished. "There...Veronika should have them by now. Larisa, you go first..." Bellatrix then handed Larisa a small pouch, and Larisa stck a gloved hand inside and pulled out a fistfull of Floo powder. She moved towards the fireplace and threw it in.

Instantly, green flames sprang up.

"See you in a few." Draco said, and Larisa smiled at him before stepping into the fire.

"Veronika Magecyehsky's office!" She said loudly, and she felt herself spin around in the fireplace. After what felt like hours, she tumbled out of a fireplace into a neat little office.

"Mind ze gap and be sure not to track any ash on ze carpet." Magecyehsky said from her desk.

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**Russian-English Translation:**

**_Do svidaniya_- Bye  
_Privet-_ Hello**

**I'm so sorry this is up so late. I've been sick and unable to think clearly. Here's a fun fact about Larisa to make it up to you: Larisa's full name is pronounced as _lah-REE-sah he-LAY-na r-AY._**

**(Read&Review)_  
_**


	20. Navigating the Metro

**Author's Note: And now to update this story for the first time in about five months! Sorry that it has been a long time for me to update, but, like I said in the Author's Note for chapter three of _Voldemort's Rules_, I got really sick, my train of thought derailed nearly permanently, and I had to deal with some psychological issues. -knocks on head- Updates for this story will be VERY slow, due to the fact that I have to be careful with writing dark stuff now, and I'm nearly a freshman in high school and I'm freaking out! -scream- If you want a story with faster updates, then I suggest you read my other story, _Voldemort's Rules_. That gets updated about once or twice a week, sometimes three times. Now, enough of my rambling...**

**Note: There will be A LOT of Russian in this chapter, and I mean A LOT. I won't be able to translate every single bit, but I'll translate as much of it as I can.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.

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**~*~*~Chapter Twenty: Navigating The Metro~*~*~**

Larisa stared around the office, surprised by its muggle-ness. If she had not know that Magecyehsky was a witch, she would have thought she had somehow gotten into a muggle office building. Behind Magecyehsky the Russian flag was hanging on the wall, and on the desk there was an assortment of muggle photographs and pens. In front of it all, there was a small, rectangular plaque with Cyrillic letters on it.

"'Veronika L. Magecyehsky, Minister of Magic.'" Larisa read out loud to herself.

"Lucine," Magecyehsky said, not looking up from the parchment she was writing on. "Veronika Lucine Magecyehsky. Ze zird muggle-born Minister of Magic in Russia."

"Muggle-born?" A shocked voice said from behind Larisa. Larisa jumped and turned around to see Narcissa standing right in front of the fire, a stunned look on her face. Larisa turned around again to see Magecyehsky had looked up from her parchment and was staring at Narcissa with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes, muggle-born," She said coldly. "Zer are quite a few muggle-borns here in Russia. Mind you do not get your hands messy."

"Burn." Larisa said, disguising it well as a cough as Andromeda tumbled out of the fire and smacked into Narcissa.

"Fail." Magecyehsky said, throwing a final glare at Narcissa before bending back over her parchment.

"Double burn." Larisa said, again disguising it as a cough. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, and finally Draco stumbled out of the fireplace. He stared around the office for a few seconds before moving to stand beside Larisa. Silence for a little longer, and then...

"I HATE Floo powder!" Bellatrix snapped as she stepped out of the fireplace, shaking her hair and spraying Narcissa with a large amount of ash.

"Triple burn." Larisa said, coughing to hide what she said. When Bellatrix finished swearing under her breath and brushing the ash off of herself, Magecyehsky rose from her seat to speak with them.

"Now zen," She said, looking up at everyone. "Zere are some things you should know. First, over half of ze magical population here is Moscow is muggle-born-" Narcissa gave a small whimper and Bellatrix punched her in the arm. "-and you can legally use magic outside of school at ze age of fourteen here. Any questions? No? Good. If you vould follow me..."

Larisa grabbed the handle of her trunk and followed Magecyehsky out of the office, catching up rather quickly with her. She felt very hollow inside and her mind was floating around, not totally in her head.

"So where does the exit lead to?" Larisa asked quietly, her eyes darting around the hallway, which had a very high ceiling and black and white tiles.

"Ze Metro," Magecyehsky answered. "Zey might know it as ze Underground." She added in a whisper, jerking her head back at Bellatrix, Narcissa, Draco, and Andromeda. "So how is your life going?"

"I don't want to talk about it..." Larisa muttered darkly under her breath, readjusting her grip on her trunk. They all walked in complete silence down the hallway and into the Entrance Hall, where they were greeted by a huge sea of people. Everywhere Larisa looked there were Aurors heading towards their offices, visitors being lead to the departments they needed to go to, people using Floo Powder in the fireplaces, and Magical Maintenance workers relighting fires that had gone out and cleaning out the ashes. The best part of all, however, was the fact that almost everyone around Larisa was speaking Russian. Larisa could also hear a few people speaking German and English, but all around her it was mostly Russian. The constant drone of her native language was causing a small spark of excitement and happiness to rise up inside her; she was home...sort of.

"Woah," Draco said, looking up at the ceiling. Larisa looked up as well, and saw that on the ceiling there was a huge painting of a wizard and a muggle shaking hands.

"_YA lyublyu eto mesto!_" Larisa said, shaking her head in disbelief as her eyes grew wide. "Yeesh, this is better than the British Ministry, defiantly..." Tearing her eyes away from the ceiling, she followed Magecyehsky through the crowd towards the exit. As they were nearing the exit a group of Aurors that appeared to be in their fifties passed by, and several waved to Larisa. Awkwardly Larisa waved back, and they continued on their way. "How do they know me?" She asked in a whisper.

"Zey ver part of your aunt's unit ven she vas still on ze force. She kept up viz zem even after she left," Magecyehsky answered as she dodged around a pair of younger Aurors. They nodded politely at her before continuing on to join another group of Aurors. At long last, they arrived at the exit. "Now, you are going to need some information on how to get to ver you vill be staying. Are you familiar wiz ze Moscow Metro?" Magecyehsky asked Larisa, setting a hand on her elbow.

"I'm a bit familiar with the St. Petersburg Metro..." Larisa said quietly.

"It is pretty much almost the same," Magecyehsky said before plunging into her explanation, pulling out a pen and notebook. "To get to vere you are staying, you'll need to get to Pervomayskaya, vich is on ze Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line," Quickly, she wrote that down. "Now, ve are at Okhotny Ryad Station on ze Sokolnicheskaya Line, and you'll vant to valk to Teatralnaya, vich is on ze Zamoskvoretskaya Line. From zere you need to valk to Ploshchad Revolyutsii Station on ze Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. Stay on ze Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line until you reach Pervomayskaya, and zen you need to find an old blue door. Got it?" Magcyehsky said to Bellatrix, who stared at her as if she had grown a second head. Magecyehsky then turned to Larisa. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I think I've got it," Larisa said after going over the whole route in her head quickly.

"Here are ze directions just in case," Magecyehsky added, giving Larisa the notebook. "Now, zere is also ze matter of getting your tickets. Zankfully, zis trip is funded completely by ze Ministry, so I got some passes for you all." With that, she handed out the passes. Larisa turned hers over in her hands a few times, then looked at Magecyehsky.

"Thank you." She said. Magecyehsky turned the doorknob, and Larisa stepped out onto the Okhotny Ryad Station platform. With a quick wave Magecyehsky closed the door, sealing off the Russian Ministry of Magic.

"Alright, so we need to get to...Teatralnaya?" Draco asked, and Larisa looked down at the notebook.

"Yup," Larisa said as a train went by. "Good job on speaking Russian, too." She added brightly before making her way to the transit line. It was very difficult, for there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of people swarming around, trying to get onto their trains and to the exits. Several schoolchildren nearly smacked into Larisa, who had moved out of the way just in time.

"God, walking through here is like trying to drive the wrong way on a one-way street..." Andromeda snarled after nearly being knocked over by a businessman making his way onto the train.

"You have to force yourself through the crowd," Larisa pointed out, elbowing her way through the crowd.

"_Von iz moego puti!_" Someone spat at Larisa, forcing their way past her.

"_Idite k chertu!_" Larisa spat back, flipping the person off before continuing on her way. After much more elbowing and cussing people out, Larisa saw the sign that told her that they were finally at Teatralnaya.

"Please tell me we're almost there, I don't think I can take this much longer..." Draco panted as he caught up with Larisa.

"We're at Teatralnaya, and we need to get to Ploshchad Revolyutsii, so we're halfway there." Larisa said, pointing up at the sign.

"Thank God," Draco said as Bellatrix caught up.

"Please tell me we're-"

"Halfway there," Draco and Larisa said in unison. After Narcissa and Andromeda had caught up, Larisa began to elbow her way towards Ploshchad Revolyutsii. There were fewer people on Teatralnaya, but there was still enough people that it was nearly impossible to move. It was almost like trying to swim upstream in a river full of fish; Larisa kept getting pushed backwards and bumped into. It was completely overwhelming to her as she struggled to keep a hold on her trunk and not knock anyone over as she elbowed her way through the crowd. When she finally reached an area where the crowd was thinned out, she let go of her trunk and stopped to take a break. As soon as she stopped, someone crashed right into her and knocked her to the floor. Larisa landed painfully on her left arm, specifically the Dark Mark.

"_Chert poberi!_" Larisa yelped very loudly, hugging her arm tightly as the Dark Mark burned; if Voldemort showed up in the Metro...Larisa didn't want to think about it at all. Several people who had heard Larisa's outburst looked at her with a disapproving face before continuing on their way, one woman muttering about her being a bad influence on small children. Had Larisa not been preoccupied with the pain in her arm, she would have tossed a complete hissy fit.

"You alright?" A voice asked, and Larisa looked up from the floor to see a girl of about eighteen or nineteen staring down at her.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Larisa lied easily.

"What's up with your arm?"

"I just got a tatoo last week and it's still a little sore," Larisa lied again, getting to her feet while still hugging her arm. "Thanks for your concern."

"You seem a little young to get a tattoo. How old are you?" The girl asked, eying Larisa suspiciously.

"Nineteen," Larisa lied, drawing up to her full height and hoping the girl would fall for it.

"Oh. Sorry. You just have the face of a fifteen-year-old, I guess. Well, good luck on getting to wherever you're going!" With that, the girl turned and walked away, while Larisa sighed with relief and grabbed the handle of her trunk.

"That was close," She whispered to herself before setting off towards Ploshchad Revolyutsii, her arm still burning a little. As she shoved her way through the crowd, her fear that Voldemort might show up slowly faded into nothing...Until she got knocked over again. This time, though, she managed to keep her left arm away from the ground. "_Chto za chert?_"

"_Smotretʹ, gde vy sobiraetesʹ!_" The person snapped as they got on the train. Muttering angrily to herself, Larisa got to her feet and continued to plow through the crowd. At long last, Larisa arrived at Ploshchad Revolyutsii, where everyone else was waiting.

"What took you so long?" Bellatrix asked as Larisa came over.

"I got knocked over a few times by muggles," Larisa said, rubbing her left shoulder.

* * *

**Russian-English Translation:  
_YA lyublyu eto mesto!_****= I love this place!  
_Von iz moego puti!_= Get out of my way!  
_Idite k chertu!_= Go to hell!  
_Chert poberi!_= Damn it!  
_Chto za chert?_= What the hell?  
_Smotretʹ, gde vy sobiraetesʹ!_= Watch where you are going!**

**Well, there you have it. My first update in a loooooong time. Thank you to those who waited for so long, and I'm sorry for making you wait!**

**And yes, that is how you get to Ploshchad Revolyutsii from Okhotny Ryad. Store this bit of information in your brain. If you ever go to Moscow, you may need it someday.**

**(Read&Review&Take the poll)  
**


	21. Larisa's Threat

**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating in a while! I've been really busy and I got sick again...AND I TURNED FIFTEEN A FEW WEEKS AGO! :D And in a review I got, I was asked a question. My answer is: I have no clue what I got sick with, and I need to be careful writing dark stuff because it messes with my mind. Now, ONWARD!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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**~Chapter Twenty-One: Larisa's Threat~**

Larisa was staring at the telephone in her hotel room as if she was trying to set it on fire or move it with her mind. Her head was spinning like crazy as she tried to focus on what she wanted to do. The big question was, could she do it?

_**Of course I can do this! What am I, scared?**_ She tried to tell herself, still staring at the phone. Still, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Larisa, not matter how long you stare at that thing, it will not move," Bellatrix said. "Nor will it catch fire,"

"I know," Larisa said, not tearing her eyes from the telephone. "I'm contemplating whether or not I should go through with this..."

"Go through with what?" Bellatrix asked.

"I need to yell at Borislav...Don't tell me it will only hurt me, because I need to let him know what hes done to me, and that there will be consequences...I need to get this out of my system, or it'll drive me crazy...Well, more crazy than I already am, if that's possible..." Larisa said, still not looking away from the phone. "I don't know why, but I have the strangest feeling that it will help me," Bellatrix was very quiet for what felt like the longest time, just staring at Larisa as if she had never seen her before.

"Though every single cell in me is screaming at me to tell you that that is a completely insane idea then drag you off to a psychiatrist, I know how you operate, and, even though THAT IS COMPLETEY INSANE AND I SHOULD SERIOUSLY DRAG YOU RIGHT TO THE PSYCHIATRIST THAT'S DOWN THE STREET, I'm saying...Go for it," Bellatrix exploded before looking calm again.

"Thanks Bella," Larisa said quietly, finally picking up the white corded phone and plugging in the country code and telephone number on the number pad. Clinging to the phone, she listen to it ring all the way over in England. It rang seven times, when finally, Sophia answered.

"Hello?" Sophia's voice asked uncertainly. Larisa froze, then forced herself to answer.

"Guess who?" She asked flatly, holding onto the phone as if it was tethering her to the Earth.

"...What the heck, Larisa?" Sophia snapped after going completely silent for a full minute.

"Put Borislav on," Larisa snapped back angrily. "I need to speak with him,"

"Why?"

"Just put him on you little slut!" Larisa spat bitterly, her face flushing and growing warm. Sophia's horrible angry sputter was drowned out by Bellatrix's loud and angry shout of her name.

"It's for you!" Larisa heard Sophia snarl, and then there was the sound of the phone slamming onto a table and someone storming away.

"Alright, what did you say to your mother?" Borislav's voice said once he had picked up the phone.

"I called her a slut," Larisa said innocently, examining her fingernails while listening to Borislav sputter with anger. "But that was just to get her off the phone. You're the one I want to talk to..." Her voice had suddenly gotten very raspy and creepy, her eyes narrowing to thin slits.

"I'd hang up on you if I could figure out how this damn thing worked," Borislav said flatly.

"Good that you can't figure it out, because I have some frustrations I need to vent,"

"Why to me, though? Why can't you just ramble about your troubles senselessly to the Malfoy boy or Lestrange?"

"Because I don't want to take it out on the ones that I love, and I have a few words for you," Larisa hissed, taking in a deep breath. She was going to need plenty of air for this...

"Oh?"

"Yes. You have no idea what terrible pain you've caused me over my lifetime. You have no idea what it's like to wake up in the morning feeling this amount of pain and misery. You've taken Karina away from me, you've caused me constant paranoia, you're the reason that I have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, probably a number of other things, and in doing this, your lifespan has been cut clean in half," Larisa hissed dangerously. Bellatrix was staring at her, ready to take over if she needed to.

"You're bluffing," Borislav said arrogantly.

"No, I'm not! You can take it up with Dumbledore himself, he's the one who found out that I had it! You're just telling yourself I'm bluffing because you're scared that one day, I may just completely lose it and take you out..." Larisa said, putting some extra articulation on the last few words; she needed to get her point across. Bellatrix's eyebrows rose up a little bit; Larisa quickly glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Again, you're bluffing,"

"Believe what you want. You'll realize I'm not bluffing when you see the green light and hear my laugh and the rush," Larisa seethed. As she said that, she could feel a little of the weight on her shoulders rise. Borislav was completely silent; it seemed that he had finally gotten tired of accusing Larisa of bluffing. Larisa still had that tiny flicker of pure rage left in her that wouldn't go away, and she had a great need to continue, to let all of the anger spill out. "What, no accusations? That's really not like you, you know. You always have to have the last word,"

"Not true," Borislav snapped. He was really trying to awake Larisa's somewhat dormant temper, and the tiny flicker started to spark again, ready to turn into a huge fire again and threaten to wake the creature that clawed at her mind until she had to beat it away to shut it up.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Larisa asked impatiently. "You sure sound like you have one!"

"I don't," He said simply. Larisa finally decided he was just trying to tick her off and get her wound up again, and she should have just hung up; but, she still wasn't quite through with him.

"It also seems like you're trying to have a civil conversation with me. Kinda weird, it seems like history is repeating itself. Sophia ended up having civil conversations with Bella when they were in school together, and you know that they hated each other," Larisa rambled, pulling Sophia's diary off of the nightstand and looking at it closely. "Don't bother asking how I found out, I have my ways of finding out what I want to know,"

"Don't make yourself sound all smart. You know you're not," Borislav said coldly.

"Scared that I'm smarter than you, dunderhead?" Larisa said smugly, smirking and tossing the book into the air so that it flipped and landed back in her hand.

"Nope,"

"I think you are!" Larisa pressured, thoroughly enjoying herself with this argument.

"No! I'm not!"

"Scaredy cat, scaredy cat, Borislav's a scaredy cat!" Larisa taunted, even more weight rising off of her shoulders. She could hear Death Eaters snickering in the background at Borislav be taunted by a sixteen-year-old girl. After a few seconds of snickering, there was the sound of a door opening and footsteps heading towards the phone.

"Having fun?" Sophia's voice said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"She's antagonizing me," Borislav replied before turning his attention back to Larisa. "Alright, what is it that you want?"

"It's quite obvious what I want, Borislav. Now, you better sleep with one eye open, because you're going to need life support when I'm through with you," Larisa hissed, going back to her sour mood.

"How do I hang up this thing?" Borislav asked Sophia in the background.

"Remember my words, morons. You've ticked off the wrong person, and you're gonna pay for it!" Larisa said angrily before slamming the phone down onto the receiver. She kept her hand on the phone for a few moments, panting angrily.

"Well? Feeling any better, or do I still need to drag you to the psychiatrist?" Bellatrix asked after a few moments of silence. Larisa took a deep breath; a lot of the anger and grief she had been feeling earlier had vanished somewhat. There were still those defiant little flickers that refused to go away, but Larisa felt much calmer and could keep her head much easier than before.

"I'm feeling a lot better," She said. "A lot of it is gone,"

"Good. Don't ever do it again, and don't ever call someone a slut again!" Bellatrix said sternly before walking away. Larisa swore she could see the 'concerned parent' look on Bellatrix's face again as she set Sophia's diary down on the nightstand and lay down on her bed, staring up at the beige ceiling. She knew Sophia was going to be out for her blood the next time they met, but she felt that calling her what she did was well justified. She also knew that Borislav wasn't going to heed her threat, which was definitely going to be the biggest mistake of his life.

Larisa was going to make herself Borislav's worst nightmare.

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**TA-DA! First update in a while! 8D**

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	22. Therapy

**Special Thank-You: I AM BACK, PEOPLE! Updates will still be slow, but not as slow as they were! I'm going to try to update at least once a week, and if that succeeds, then we'll go to twice a week. Thanks to all who kept reading and reviewing while I was on my hiatus, you all kept me going, and you have no idea how much that means to me. :)**

**Notice: I think my inner-psychologist escaped again while I was writing this chapter, so beware! *catches inner-psychologist with net, stuffs back into cage* AND STAY THERE!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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**~*~Chapter Twenty-Two: Therapy~*~**

A few days after Larisa had made her call, she had slipped back into her depressed, aggressive, irritable mood, easily set off and very mood-swingy. She spent most of her time staring out the window at the snow falling to the ground and at the people walking on the sidewalk below. There were people on the streets of Moscow twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the same with cars. The sounds of the cars beeping their horns and revving their engines was always carrying up the side of the building and entering Larisa's thought space, constantly yanking her back to the painful reality she had to live every day. She felt like she was trapped in a circle-shaped box; absolutely no way out and no corners to hide in until the storm passed. She wanted so badly to talk to someone about how she felt, but it clashed with her desire to be left alone to ride her emotions out on her own.

One day, it wasn't snowing as hard as it was earlier in the week. Larisa was at her usual spot by the window, wearing a dark green knit sweater and jeans. Her white hair was up in a ponytail, but there were several locks of hair that weren't in the ponytail and were falling past Larisa's shoulders. Very light snowflakes were falling from the sky, which was very grey and cloudy.

"Hey," Draco said, coming over to the window and sitting down by Larisa at the windowsill. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm trapped in a circular box. No way to escape and no corners to cry in," Larisa said, not looking away from the window. "Bella wants to haul me off to a psychiatrist."

"I can see why. You have a bit of a twitch going on there-"

"I do not," Larisa snapped, but indeed, her right eye was twitching very slightly. She still hadn't torn her gaze away from the window. "I'm just upset with the world right now,"

"Aren't you always upset with the world?"

"No," Larisa replied shortly. She didn't mean to sound so harsh, but her desire to be left alone was clashing with her desire to talk to someone rather painfully. "Sorry I sound so harsh. Like I said, I'm upset with the world, and I feel trapped,"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Bingo. He had asked the forbidden question, the thorn in Larisa's side, the thing that had been torturing her for the past few weeks. In her mind, she was screaming _Yes, you idiot! I need someone to __talk to!_, but she just couldn't speak. She wanted to talk, but she also didn't want to talk...

"Are you sure about asking that? You'd be here for _at least_ two hours," Larisa said, her desire to be left alone taking over.

"I have the time," Draco said.

**_Damn._** Larisa thought as the need to be alone began to shrink and she felt the awful desperation of a great need to talk. **_No getting out of it now_**. After sitting completely still, staring out the window for a full minute, thinking about what she was going to say, she finally spoke again.

"Your inner-psychologist better be ready, the floodgates are gonna open," Larisa mumbled, finally looking away from the window. Draco nodded slowly, and Larisa took a deep breath and, like she said, the floodgates opened. All the things she was feeling at the time were spilling out of her; how completely miserable and trapped she felt, the anger and rage that was gnawing on the few shards of sanity that she still had left, the sense of abandonment she felt, the terrible stress she was feeling, the awful confusion, the grief, all of the emotions that had been torturing her for the past few weeks. Most of what she was feeling had been ebbing away at her for years, and they only required a great emotional upheaval to make them noticeable; she had always felt stressed, she had always felt abandoned, she always felt miserable and trapped, but now they were more extreme and painful.

She rambled on and on for two and a half hours about her crazed emotions and her disappearing sanity. Some of the weight was lifting off of her shoulders as she continued to talk non-stop, finally getting into her fears that she was going to end up like her parents. She rarely ever revealed that being like her parents was her biggest fear; whenever someone mentioned that she was like her parents, she felt herself crack on the inside, and she was ready to fall apart. After a full three and a half hours of talking, Larisa fell silent, a little weight off of her shoulders. Draco took her hand and squeezed it as Larisa returned to staring absently out the window, snow starting to fall heavily from the completely grey clouds.

"Are you feeling a little better?" Draco asked. Larisa was impressed with him: he had stayed by her side the entire time she was talking, and he didn't try to offer any advice or tell her she was only imagining things. He just sat there and listened to her troubles until she was finished.

"A little," Larisa said quietly. She was mildly surprised: she had never revealed that much about herself, let alone the fact that her worst fear was that she would end up like her parents. Normally she'd say her worst fear was clowns (In fact, she WAS mildly afraid of clowns, but nobody knew that.) or something stupid like that instead of what she really feared, but it was a secret she could no longer carry. At least someone finally knew about it, and there was an upside to that: she could get help with it...Mainly she needed Slughorn to back off and realized that _she_ didn't totally idolize her parent's skills and would rather see them get chased by a rabid hippogriff...Maybe two rabid hippogriffs and a mad axe man.

"You do know that you're not anything like your parents. For example, you're not a raging psychopath in need of good hit to the back of the head with a frying pan." Draco said, and Larisa couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Sophia's in need of more than a good hit with a frying pan...More like a good scolding from her mother for getting herself pregnant-"

"Woah, hold on! Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Yes. Sophia's pregnant, and I'm getting a little sibling that I'm going to end up raising to protect it from the psychopaths I call my biological parents," Larisa said. Draco looked mentally disturbed. "I'm disturbed by this, too, you know!"

"There'd be something very wrong with you if you weren't,"

"Duh," Larisa said, rolling her eyes.

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**There was a very big, massive bit of foreshadowing in this chapter. See if you can find it; it's well hidden. :D  
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**Larisa got her fear of clowns from me.**

**Yes, I am fifteen years old and I am terrified of clowns.**

**It's fine to be afraid of clowns.**

**Really!**

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**Stop looking at me like that.**

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**Seriously, stop looking at me like that.**

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**I mean it! Stop looking at me like that!**

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**(Read&Review&Take the poll)**

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**Didn't I tell you to stop looking at me like that?  
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	23. The Birthday Card

**Author's Note: I TOLD YOU, STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing

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**~*~Chapter Twenty-Three: The Birthday Card~*~**

After her talk with Draco, Larisa found that she wasn't feeling as terrible as she had been before. Christmas was fast approaching, and Larisa was now filled with a strong determination to not let anything bring her emotions down again instead of anger, hate, and misery. She couldn't remember when she was last like this, so it felt very new to her, not being really ticked off and/or upset all the time; something or someone was always bugging her, whether it be Borislav, Sophia, or any other person that tried to make her be different than she already was.

It was about five in the morning, and Larisa stared angrily up at the ceiling, wishing that her sudden attack of insomnia would just crawl back into the trench from whence it came. It didn't help that there was a very loud pack of drunks down at the street below. Larisa had half the mind to open the window, stick her head out, and yell "Don't you people have homes?". She wasn't used to city life anymore, being that she had lived in the country in England for nearly three years and she had adapted quite well to it.

Now that she was back in the city, it began to stir up some interesting memories Larisa hadn't been able to recall before. She was starting to be able to remember in the late fall of 1983, she had gotten lost in Moscow when she, Sophia, and Borislav came over to settle something with the Ministry of Magic and get their names off of the suspected Death Eater list. Larisa ended up wandering off, when she realized her parents weren't with her. Instead of acting like a normal three-year-old would by having a breakdown and freaking out, she had walked up to a muggle police officer and told him she was lost and needed help finding her parents. She nearly laughed when she remembered the face of the officer when she said she needed to find the Ministry of Magic, how he had narrowed his eyes at her and asked if she was delusional. He had still helped her find Sophia and Borislav, and once Sophia had a firm hold on her hand again after saying she had caused her to have a panic attack, the officer had told them that he thought Larisa needed to see a psychiatrist really badly. She wondered if he was still a police officer to this day...

Sighing with exasperation about her inability to sleep, Larisa got up and grabbed her wand and Sophia's diary off of the nightstand and crossed the room to the windowsill, where she sat down and turned through the pages after lighting her wand. When she got to the next entry, an old and faded scrap of folded up parchment floated out and landed on her lap.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**March 2nd, 1970**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_** Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...Yes, I turned twelve today. It doesn't really matter, though. Nobody bothered to remember. Well, one person remembered, but I don't count him as someone. I don't even ever recall telling him that it was my birthday, to be honest...**_

_** Yep, you guessed it. It was Borislav-wait, how would you be able to guess it? You're a book, for crying out loud! God, I'm losing my mind.**_

_** Anyway, yes, it's my birthday. Strangely enough, Borislav gave me a birthday card...Well, more like threw it at me during breakfast this morning...I felt touched when I read it. I mean, he cared enough to give me a card on my birthday when no one else did!**_

_** Forgive me (even though you're just a book). For a moment I sounded like I actually gave a damn about this.**_

_** Today was mainly me sitting down and remembering all the birthdays I had when Sienna and Helena were around, and then I remembered my first birthday without them.**_

_** I had turned nine years old on March 2nd, 1967. I remember waking up and bursting into tears because Sienna wasn't there to sing happy birthday to me, and Helena wasn't there to give me the birthday card she always made for me. After that we'd normally go play together in the sitting room until it was breakfast time, and after that we'd spend the whole day playing, drawing, reading, studying English, whatever. That year, though, I ended up playing by myself until it was breakfast time, and I found that my parents had forgotten it was my birthday. That day was like any other day: I wandered around the house alone, my mother yelled at me for not standing up straight or not spelling something in English properly (She was really big on me being perfectly fluent in English and Russian. Blah, English is still hard for me. It's very hard to try to learn. It's not phoenetic.), and my father babbled senselessly about how a mudblood was chosen to be the new Minister of Magic. I kept up a completely blank look that I've acquired since Sienna and Helena died. On that day, though, I did get a card from Seraphina. I always got cards from her, but they've become more and more childish and difficult to read. This year I didn't even get one. That was a real blow to my mangled soul.**_

_** My father always told me that they weren't worth reading (The cards from Seraphina) and that I should just toss them without reading them because they'd be a waste of my time. This is coming from the man that never ever told me 'Happy Birthday' in my whole life. My mother just always forgot, but Seraphina never forgot. My father never got any cards from her on his birthday, nor has my mother, but I ALWAYS got a card. I know she loves me. She's the only relative I have that doesn't see me as a bother to my family. Now you can easily see why not getting a card from her this year hurt. (Wait, you're a book-Oh, never mind...)**_

_** I've decided to promise myself that when I have my own kids, I'm never going to forget their birthdays. I'm not going to force them to learn English. I'm not going to yell at them for not standing up straight or walking strangely. I'm also going to keep them away from my parents so that they don't screw my children up.**_

_** Sophia**_

_** P.S.: Even though you're only a book, you're my confident. You can't tell my secrets, and you can't offer me worthless advice. I don't want advice. What I want is someone to just listen. Books listen to your troubles very well. I might as well say...Thanks!**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

Normally, Larisa would have freaked out and had an emotional breakdown after reading this entry. Instead, she took a deep, calming breath and told herself that Sophia was twenty-two when she had Larisa, and she was twelve when she had written this entry. A lot can change in ten years. Larisa wasn't going to let herself freak out about something that Sophia promised herself twenty-six years ago...Yet.

The relationship Sophia had with her aunt Seraphina seemed scarily similar to the relationship Larisa had had with Karina. Larisa decided that she wasn't going to let that bother her at the time, though; instead, she tucked it away in the back of her mind and saved it so that she'd freak out about it later. Still, part of her was flipping out.

Larisa set the book down and picked up the folded piece of parchment that had landed on her lap. On the front, 'Happy Birthday' was written in very neat Cyrillic above a very impressive drawing of balloons and a wrapped present. What Larisa found the most impressive was that they were in color and the shading was very neatly done. She never knew Borislav could draw so well...Then again, what _did_ she know about him? Almost nothing.

Opening the card, Larisa translated what was written inside in her head.

**&%$&%$&%$**

_**Dear Sophia,**_

_** I am hoping that you are going to have a very nice twelfth birthday.**_

_** Your friend, Borislav**_

**&%$&%$&%$**

"Wow," Larisa quietly said to herself, pursing her lips. Under the message was another hand drawn picture, this one of a birthday cake. Quietly, Larisa closed the birthday card and slipped in back into the diary, and then she crossed the room and set the diary back down on the nightstand. She forced all negative feelings away to a quiet corner of her mind, where she'd let them out later. With that, she put out her wand and crawled back under the covers, but her insomnia remained and she was left with staring right up at the ceiling.

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**Well, there you have it. This week's update. Who knows, maybe there will be another update this week ;)...**

**I SAID MAYBE!**

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